V  ft 


..« 


ctoA   : 


THE     LIFE 


V 


A 


NOV  5   1918 


OF 


SPENCER  H.  CONE. 


ice. 


N  E  W    Y  0  R  K  : 
SHELDON,  BLAKEMAN  &  COMPANY. 

BOSTON:     GOULD    &    LINCOLN. 
CHICAGO:    S.   C.    GRIGGS   &   CO. 

1857. 


evtbf**   according  to  Act  of  Conerets,  in  the   yea;  \Strlt  by 
EDWARD  W.  COXE  &  SPENCER  AS\  CONE, 
lu  the  '.'],:! k's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  Slat;*  for  the  Southern  D.'*t;st  3f  New  Ycrk.  ■ 


JOHN    J.    REED, 

TEREOTVPKll   AXD   PUINTEtt, 

16  Spruce  Street,  N.  Y. 


PREFACE. 


The  life  of  Spencer  Houghton  Cone  must  speak  for  itself.  In 
attempting  some  account  of  it,  we  expressly  recognize  that  a  better, 
a  more  complete  history,  survives  in  its  effect  upon  the  country  and 
times  in  which  he  lived,  than  can  be  given  in  the  mere  verbal  record 
of  particular  actions.  It  has  been  our  aim  to  tell  with  simplicity 
and  truth  the  story  of  his  life.  It  was  a  life  of  action,  and  one  full 
of  good  purposes,  many  of  which  he  lived  to  see  brought  to  a 
happy  issue.  To  narrate  its  events,  and  with  such  clearness  and 
fidelity  as  our  capacity  allowed — present  also  his  views  of  Christian 
duty,  doctrine,  discipline  and  practice — has  been  our  only  thought. 
"We  could  bring  to  the  work  no  skill  or  cunning  of  authorship,  and 
could  devote  to  it  only  such  leisure  as  the  brief  intervals  of  business 
allowed.  Many  kind  aud  able  hands  have  been  extended  to  aid  us, 
however,  and  we  please  ourselves  with  the  hope  that  their  contri- 
butions will  more  than  supply  our  deficiencies.  His  letters  have 
been  submitted  to  us,  with  very  general  kindness  and  promptitude ; 
and  the  extracts  made  from  them,  and  from  his  public  addresses 
will  be  found,  we  think,  to  express  unmistakably  his  sentiments  and 
feelings  upon  every  important  point.  To  these,  many  of  his  "brethren 
beloved  in  the  Lord,"  have  added  their  testimony,  and  described 
those  events  and  characteristics,  with  which  they  were  more  par- 
ticularly acquainted,  with  a  warmth  and  eloquence  it  would  scarcely 
have  become  us  to  use,  had  we  been  able  to  do  so.  Their  love  and 
goodness  will  be  gratefully  remembered  whilst  memory  lasts. 

In  some  parts  of  the  narrative  it  has  been  impossible  to  observe 
a  strict  chronological  order.  Many  of  the  benevolent  enterprises 
in  which  he  was  active  were  going  forward  at  one  time;  whilst 
clearness  required  that  they  should  be  treated  of  successively. 

Some  repetitions  may  also  be  observed.     These,  it  will  be  seen 
we  think,  were  in  most  cases  also  unavoidable.    Expressions  of  the 


jy  PREFACE. 

same  thought,  almost  inevitably  occur  in  communications,  from 
different  quarters,  referring  to  striking  qualities  of  the  same  indi- 
vidual. We  have  made  no  effort  to  avoid  this,  nor  could  we  have 
done  so,  without  taking  a  liberty  which  we  did  not  feel  authorized 
to  take.  Indeed  the  desire  to  do  this  was  wholly  wanting.  His 
praises  are  too  grateful  to  us. 

In  the  following  pages  we  have  been  careful  to  make  it  plain  to 
whom,  and  for  how  much,  we  are  indebted.  The  reader  of  the 
Memoir  will  readily  perceive  that  it  would  be  impossible,  in  the 
limits  of  this  prefatory  notice,  to  name,  and  properly  thank,  all 
those  whose  affection  for  the  man,  and  interest  in  the  great  objects 
to  which  his  energies  were  so  long  devoted,  have  prompted  them 
to  assist  us. 

New  Tobk,  April .  0l7i,  1856. 


CONTENTS. 


hin, 


Chapter    I.  Influences,  . 
II.  Childhood,  . 

III.  Boyhood,     . 

IV.  Youth, 
V.  1810-11-12, 

VI.  1813-14-15-16,  . 
VII.  The  War,     . 
VIII.  Foes  Without  and  Fears  Wi 

IX.  Alexandria, 

.  X.  Catharine  and  Eliza  Cone, 

XI.  Leaving  Virginia, 
XII.  New  York,  . 

XIII.  1S23  to  1830, 

XIV.  1830  to  1841, 
XV.  The  First  Baptist  Church  in 

XVI.   1841  to  1845, 
XVII.  Foreign  Missions, 

XVIII.  The  Bible  and  the  American  Bible  Society, 

XIX.  The  American  and  Foreign  Bible  Society,  . 

XX.  Revised  English  Version  and  Events  of  1849-50, 

XXI.  The  American  Bible  Fnion,  .... 

XXII.  His  Conduct  to  Young  Preachers — Directions — Advice 

— Views  of  Christian  Character,  Faith  and  Practice, 

XXIII.  The  Last  Year, 

XXIV.  Love  Stronger  than  Death, 

XXV.  The  End, 

Appendix, 


the  City  of  Xew  Ycrk, 


7 

15 

27 

41 

64 

84 

104 

181 

110 

186 

197 

215 

235 

247 

259 

275 

2o:s 

314 
348 
366 
3S6 

414 
447 
461 
470 
479 


TO 

THE     BAPTISTS     OF     AMERICA 

THIS  VOLUME  IS  RESPECTFULLY  INSCRIBED, 

BY    THE    SONS    OF 

SPENCER    HOUGHTON    CONE. 


CHAPTER    I. 

EFFLUENCES. 

I  have  undertaken  to  write  my  father's  life.  Many 
of  his  best  friends  have  urged  me  to  do  so.  They  say 
that  although  his  public  life,  in  all  its  parts  and  acts,  is 
known  to  many  thousands,  and  written  everywhere  in  the 
History  of  the  Denomination  for  which  he  labored  near 
half  a  century,  none  living,  but  his  own  children,  know 
the  home  life — his  daily  walk  and  conversation,  and 
what  in  him  was  every  hour  good  and  worthy  to  be 
recorded.  No  one  else  knows,  as  we  know,  the  inner 
life,  made  up  indeed  of  little  things,  but  yet  not  trifles, 
which  is  the  life  of  the  heart.  That  part  of  a  greatly 
good  man's  existence  which  the  holy  circle  of  family 
intercourse  and  duty  and  employment,  bound  and  shut 
in  from  the  common  view  of  men ;  the  relaxation  and 
unbending  of  the  mind  ;  the  resting  of  the  soul  amongst 
ordinary  things,  to  which  it  yet  communicates  some- 
thing of  its  own  higher  character,  and  invests  with  a 
beauty  and  significance  beyond  their  nature — who  else 
could  know  so  well  ? 

His  friends  and  ours  tell  us  this;  and  it  is  true.  We 
knew  him  altogether  ;  for  his  home  was  a  happy  one. 
Gentle  and  happy  there  himself;  always  cheerful, 
always  sympathizing,  always  even-tempered,  his  coming 
in  brought  pleasure  and  bright  looks,  and  his  brief 
absences  left  an  empty  place,  in  house  and  heart,  we 
never  knew  how  to  fill. 


8  LIFE    OF    SPENCER    HOUGHTON    CONE. 

And  so,  to  please  those  to  whom  he  was  dear  in  this 
world,  and  who  are  looking  cheerfully  forward  to  a 
renewal  of  their  intercourse  with  him  in  a  world  where 
there  is  no  sorrow  and  no  death ;  and  not  with  the  vain 
idea  of  doing  justice  to  the  subject,  or  of  adding  any- 
thing to  the  fame  of  his  virtues,  or  the  appreciation  of 
his  services,  I  will  try,  with  my  brother's  help,  and  that 
of  other  good  friends  to  his  memory,  to  write  down  all 
we  know  of  him. 

It  may  not  be  well  done,  but  it  will  be  done  faithfully 
and  lovingly  ;  and  if  it  lack  that  close  analysis  of 
motive,  or  nice  comparison  of  strength  and  weakness, 
faults  and  virtues,  which  colder  judgments  might  be 
capable  of,  our  apology  is  that  we  are  his  children,  and 
lived  too  near  him,  and  were  too  proud  of  him  to  look 
for  blemishes,  or  indeed  if  we  had  looked  to  be  able  to 
see  anything  but  a  daily  beauty  in  his  life.  We  are 
excused  in  this,  too,  by  the  common  testimony  of  all  who 
knew  him,  since  from  his  childhood  up  he  produced  the 
same  effect  even  upon  his  ordinary  acquaintance,  so  that 
hardly  any  desired  to  find  fault  with  him  or  remembered 
him  unkindly.  We  must  think  then,  and  it  is  a  happy 
thought,  a  thought  full  of  inspiration,  that  we  are  telling 
the  story  of  his  life  to  a  circle  of  friends  too  interested  to 
be  critical,  too  kind  to  be  exacting.  He  had  enemies, 
and  opponents.  It  was  impossible  he  should  escape. 
All  greatness  and  all  goodness  stir  up  against  them- 
selves, by  a  law  of  nature,  the  envy  of  mean  minds — 
the  hate  of  evil  ones.  But  we  do  not  write  for  either, 
and  their  censure  or  their  praise  is  alike  indifferent. 
"  In  the  great  hand  of  God  he  stood :"  and  with  that 
master  who  never  forsook  him  living,  we  leave  his 
memory. 

We  Americans  have  not  much  faith  in  blood  or  ances- 
try, and  that  of  Spencer  H.  Cone  is  important  only  as 


LIFE   OF   SPENCER   nOUGHTON    CONE.  9 

showing  with  what  little  variation  the  character  which 
made  martyrs  in  Mary's  time,  and  Republicans  in  Char- 
les the  First's,  was  transmitted  through  several  genera- 
tions.    For  we  find  that  his  paternal  ancestor,  Roger 
Conant,  came  to  Massachusetts  about  the  year  1620,  and 
in  1625  (Hubbard,  102,  106-108)  removed  to  Cape  Ann, 
and  engaged  with  one  White,  a  minister  of  Dorchester, 
a  Puritan,  in  the  attempt  to  found  a  settlement.   (Prince, 
224,  229,  &c.)     Of  this  Roger  Conant  Bancroft  says 
(Vol.  1st,  p.  339) :  ••  Having  already  left  New  Plymouth 
for  Nantucket,  he  (Conant)  through  a  brother  in  Eng- 
land, who  was  a  friend  of  White,  obtained  the  agency 
of  the  adventure.     A  year's  experience  proved  to  the 
Company,  that  their  speculation  must  change  its  form, 
or  it  would  produce  no  results  ;  the  merchants,  therefore, 
paid  with  honest  liberality  all  the  persons  whom  they  had 
employed,  and  abandoned  the  unprofitable  scheme.    But 
Conant,  a  man  of  extraordinary  vigor,  "inspired  as  it 
were  by  some  superior  instinct,"  and  confiding  in  the 
active  friendship  of  White,  succeeded  in   breathing  a 
portion  of  his  sublime  courage  into  three  of  his  compa- 
nions ;  and  making  choice  of  Salem,  as  opening  a  con- 
venient place  of  refuge  for  the  exiles  for  religion,  they 
resolved  to  remain  as  the  sentinels  of  Puritanism  on  the 
Bay  of  Massachusetts." 

In  course  of  time,  as  the  little  bands  of  Pilgrims  scat- 
tered around  Boston  Bay,  grew  strong,  and  pushed  their 
pioneer  settlements  back  into  the  land,  the  children  of 
Roger  Conant  came  to  East  Haddam,  Connecticut,  and 
there  his  father  was  born,  and  named  after  the  stalwart 
old  "  Sentinel  of  Puritanism,"  Conant  Cone.  Three  or 
four  generations  had  lived  and  died  between  them,  and 
the  three  companions  in  the  city  of  refuge,  the  new 
Salem,  had  grown  to  well  nigh  three  millions ;  but  the 
same  stubborn  determination,  the  same  lofty  and  daring 

1* 


10  LIFE   OF   SFENCEK   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

principles,  robust  products  of  a  new  world  of  energy- 
arid  thought,  had  come  down,  with  unbroken  strength, 
from  father  to  son.  The  Puritan  fugitive  of  1620 — the 
Independent,  the  despised  Baptist  hunted  from  the 
England  of  James  the  First,  was  the  father  of  the 
sturdy  Republican  of  1776 ;  the  men  predestinate,  by- 
God's  high  purpose,  to  sever  from  the  England  of  George 
the  Third  her  fairest  colonies,  and  shaping  the  institu- 
tions of  the  new  Republic  after  the  model  of  a  Baptist 
Church,  indelibly  impress  upon  them  the  character  of 
its  divine  Democracy. 

Conant  Cone  inherited  all  the  principles,  and  much  of 
the  "  extraordinary  vigor"  of  the  ancestor  after  whom 
he  was  named,  Well-formed,  athletic,  expert  in  all 
manly  exercises,  and  a  master  of  his  weapon — the  first 
struggle  of  the  Colonies  with  Great  Britain  found  him 
in  the  field.  His  face  was  eminently  handsome  ;  and  I 
have  often  heard  my  mother  say  that,  although  the  severe 
wounds  he  had  received,  and  especially  a  bullet  lodged 
above  the  knee,  rendered  walking  painful  and  laborious 
to  him,  his  carriage  was  the  most  soldierly,  and  his  man- 
ners the  most  polished  and  delightful  of  any  man  she  had 
ever  seen.  His  voice  was  one  of  great  compass  and 
sweetness,  and  he  had  a  remarkable  natural  gift  of  elo- 
quence— so  much  so,  that  he  was  constantly  called 
upon,  at  the  funerals  in  the  neighborhood  where  he 
lived,  to  speak  at  the  grave  words  of  honor  to  the  dead 
and  consolation  to  the  living. 

He  was  born  in  East  Haddam,  Connecticut.  Why, 
or  when  he  left  there  we  have  never  heard.  Probably 
no  graver  motive  impelled  him  than  the  time-honored 
one  which  pushed  many  of  our  hardy  ancestors  across 
unknown  seas,  and  still  makes  the  furthest  corners  of  the 
world  pay  their  daily  tribute  of  admiration  to  American 
enterprise.     Yankee  restlessness,  and  Yankee  craving 


LIFE   OF   BPENCEK   HOUGHTON   CONE.  11 

after  the  new  and  untried  were  as  strong  then,  as  now. 
For  these  reasons,  no  doubt,  he  came  away  to  New  Jer- 
sey and,  settling  in  Hunterdon  county,  married  there 
the  daughter  of  Colonel  Joab  Houghton.  This  Joab 
Houghton  was  cue  of  those  who  first  began  to  take 
the  measures  against  the  royal  government  which 
resulted,  during  the  year  1776,  in  the  organization  of  the 
Provincial  Congress  of  New  Jersey,  and  the  arrest  by 
Colonel  Heard  of  the  Royal  Governor  (Franklin)  who 
was  afterwards  handed  over,  by  order  of  the  Continental 
Congress  sitting  at  Philadelphia,  to  the  custody  of  Gov- 
ernor Trumbull  of  Connecticut.  (Life  of  Lord  Stirling.) 
Joab  Houghton  was  also  amongst  the  first  appointments 
of  field  officers  made  by  New  Jersey  in  the  contingent 
raised  for  the  army  of  the  United  Colonies — and  when 
a  State  Government  was  erected,  by  the  choice  of  repre- 
sentatives to  the  two  houses  of  "  Council "  and  "  Assem- 
bly," and  the  election  of  Livingston  as  Governor,  he  was 
one  of  the  first  members  of  Assembly  returned  from 
the  County  of  Hunterdon.  It  was  in  old  Hopewell 
Baptist  meeting-house  where  Conant  Cone  and  Alice 
Houghton  alike  worshipped,  and  where  they  were 
immersed,  that  Joab  Houghton  received  the  first  news 
of  the  Battle  of  Lexington,  and  the  defeat  of  the  Earl 
of  Northumberland,  the  haughty  descendant  of  the  hero 
of  Chevy-Chase,  by  the  half-armed  yeomanry  of  New 
England.  Stilling  the  breathless  messenger,  he  sat 
quietly  through  the  services,  and  when  they  were  ended 
passed  out,  and  mounting  the  great  stone  block  in  front 
of  the  meeting-house,  beckoned  to  the  people  to  stop. 
Men  and  women  paused  to  hear,  curious  to  know  what 
so  unusual  a  sequel  to  the  service  of  the  day  could  mean. 
At  the  first  words  a  silence,  stern  as  death,  fell  over  all. 
The  Sabbath  quiet  of  the  hour  and  the  place  was  deep- 
ened into  a  terrible  solemnity.     He  told  them  all  the 


12  LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

story  of  the  eowardly  murder  at  Lexington  by  the  royal 
troops;  the  heroic  vengeance  following  hard  upon  it — ■ 
the  retreat  of  Percy  ;  the  gathering  of  the  children  of 
the  Pilgrims  round  the  beleaguered  hills  of  Boston.  Then 
pausing,  and  looking  over  the  silent  crowd — lie  said 
slowly:  "Men  of  New  Jersey,  the  red  coats  are  murder- 
ing our  brethren  of  New  England  ! — Who  follows  me 
to  Boston  ?"  And  every  man  of  that  audience  stepped 
out  into  line,  and  answered,  "  I !"  There  was  not  a 
coward  nor  a  traitor  in  old  Hopewell  meeting-house 
that  day. 

On  the  same  spot,  Spencer  H.  Cone  lived  to  preach. 
"We  were  children  then,  and  not  more  impressionable  than 
others  of  the  same  age,  but  we  remember  that  his  preach- 
ing in  that  place  had  a  peculiar  effect  upon  us,  and  that 
he  preached  if  possible  with  more  than  his  usual  fervor. 
At  that  time,  which  must  have  been  somewhere  about 
1825,  one  of  his  grandfather's  brothers,  William  Hough- 
ton, still  lived  on  one  of  the  farms  about  seven  miles 
from  Hopewell  meeting-house,  and  many  of  the  old 
friends  yet  lingered  around  the  spot;  the  majority,  how- 
ever, had  long  before  emigrated  to  Kentucky  and  other 
parts  of  the  great  West.  Old  Major  Morford,  one  of  his 
father's  companions  in  arms,  was  still  postmaster  at 
Princeton  :  or  if  not,  had  but  lately  been  succeeded  by  his 
daughter,  Fanny  Morford,  who  was  appointed,  at.  his  death, 
Postmaster,  by  Andrew  Jackson,  as  a  mark  of  respect 
for  her  father's  services.  The  old  hero  never  let  slip  such 
an  opportunity,  and  was  not  to  be  turned  aside  from 
caring  for  the  war-worn  patriot  or  his  child,  by  any  such 
little  anomaly  as  making  a  postmaster  of  a  woman. 
Nor  in  that  case  could  he  have  made  a  better  choice,  for 
Miss  Fanny  discharged  the  duties  of  her  office  to  the 
satisfaction  of  all  the  little  world  of  Princeton,  whether 
students  or  townsmen,  and  the  post-office  was  for  years 


LIFE   OF  SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE.  13 

one  of  the  pleasantest  and  best-ordered  gossiping  places 
imaginable. 

These  things  cannot  be  irrelevant  to  Spencer  H.  Cone's 
life,  since  they  always  made  a  part  of  his  thoughts. 
Nay,  down  to  the  latest  period,  so  long  as  he  could 
think  at  all,  he  loved  to  dwell  upon  the  scenes  of  his 
childhood  ;  to  recall  the  stirring  period  of  the  revolution, 
the  graves  of  whose  martyrs  and  heroes  were  yet  green 
and  freshly-heaped  within  his  remembrance ;  from 
whose  battle-fields  his  father  had  come  home,  a  scarred 
and  broken  soldier  ruined  in  fortune  and  crushed  in 
spirit,  by  the  helplessness  his  wounds  and  privations  had 
entailed  upon  him,  to  sit  down  amongst  them;  and 
many  of  whose  most  romantic  and  striking  incidents  had 
occurred  to  his  relatives,  or  the  companions  who  had 
accompanied  them  to  the  field.  For  these  his  lather's 
and  grandfather's  houses  were  chosen  gathering-places  ; 
there  he  listened  to  their  stories  of  the  camp,  the  march, 
and  the  battle-field  ;  the  Tory's  treason  and  the  Whig's 
revenge — all  the  burning  memories  of  that  glorious 
drama  of  Freedom,  in  which  many  ox  them  had  acted 
no  mean  parts — and  who  can  doubt  that  it  was  there 
he  drunk  into  his  childish  heart  that  pure  American 
feeling  which  never  left  him  after,  but  growing  with  his 
growth,  and  strengthening  with  his  strength,  governed 
with  a  lofty  sentiment  of  patriotism  every  act  and  period 
of  his  existence.  These  accidents  of  childhood  gave  a 
tone  and  color  to  his  after  life. 

The  boy  is  father  to  the  man. 

He  learned  his  first  lessons  in  life  from  the  bronzed 
veterans  of  the  Continental  army,  the  heroes  of  Bunker 
Hill,  Saratoga,  and  Yorktown ;  and  his  first  childish 
aspiration  was  for  a  field  in  which  he  too  might  act  the 
hero.     God  gave  him  a  glorious  one. 

He  had  a  thousand  anecdotes  and  tales  of  those  times 


14:  LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

always  fresli  upon  his  tongue,  and  never  wearied  of 
recalling  them.  A  single  incident,  however,  connected 
with  himself  must  close  this  introductory  chapter. 

His  father  had  been  brought,  by  some  of  the  circum- 
stances of  the  war,  under  the  particular  and  favorable 
notice  of  the  Commander-in-Chief;  he  had  acted  as 
guide  during  the  retreat  into  the  "  Short  hills  "  of  New 
Jersey,  and  his  intimate  knowledge  of  the  country  was 
principally  instrumental  in  enabling  the  General  to  con- 
duct it  with  the  necessary  celerity.  Transferred  to  the 
commissariat,  and  charged  especially  with  the  purchase 
of  iron,  and  material  for  the  smith  work,  and  the  super- 
vision of  part  of  the  work  itself,  he  had  come  more 
frequently  in  contact  with  him  than  his  grade  would, 
under  other  circumstances,  have  permitted.  Like  almost 
all  who  were  privileged  to  know  the  "  Father  of  his 
Country,"  he  felt  for  him  a  sentiment  little  short  of 
adoration.  After  the  war,  therefore,  when  President 
Washington  was  making  the  progress  through  the  North- 
ern and  Middle  States,  during  which  triumphal  arches, 
and  almost  worship,  everywhere  saluted  him,  ConantCone 
took  his  baby  Spencer  in  his  arms,  and  went  out  to  meet 
his  General,  and  when  Washington  saw  him,  he  stopped 
his  horse,  and  taking  the  baby  in  his  arms,  he  kissed,  and 
blessed  him. 

The  blessing  of  George  Washington  !  It  was  no  mean 
fortune  for  an  American  to  enter  life  with.  But  God 
blessed  him  more  abundantly.  To  the  father  he  gave 
the  high  honor  of  a  soldier  of  freedom  in  the  contest 
for  political  Independence:  to  the  son  the  highest  of 
all  honors — to  be  a  soldier  of  the  Cross,  a  captain  of  the 
Lord's  host,  an  unflinching  .defender  of  the  indepen- 
dence of  the  churches. 


LITE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON"   CONE.  15 


CHAPTER   II. 


CHILDHOOD. 


Spencer  Houghton  Cone  was  born  in  Princeton,  New 
Jersey,  April  30th,  1785. 

At  that  time  part  of  the  Tillage  of  Princeton  lay  in 
Somerset  County,  and  part  in  Middlesex.  The  line 
which  divided  the  Counties  ran  through  the  middle  of 
the  main  street,  and  the  house  in  which  he  was  born 
stood  on  the  Somerset  side  of  the  street.  Not  far  away 
from  the  spot  rise  the  walls  of  Princeton  College,  dearer 
to  its  students  and  to  the  ears  of  Princetonians  as 
"  Nassau  Hall."  The  "  Campus"  or  play-ground  which 
surrounds  it,  stretches  its  smooth  green  lawn  to  the  edge 
of  the  street,  along  which  a  few  fine  old  trees,  veterans 
of  the  forest  which  has  elsewhere  disappeared  from 
their  neighborhood,  stand  like  sentinels  between  the 
world  of  students  and  of  townsmen.  In  the  centre, 
marked  by  a  certain  grandeur,  for  it  is  a  stone  building 
of  considerable  extent,  and  although  without  much 
architectural  pretension,  massively  and  conveniently 
built,  rise  the  venerable  walls  of  the  College.  Behind 
it  the  "  Campus  "  breaks  in  some  places  into  miniature 
valleys,  not  unpicturesque,  and  affording  every  variety 
of  ground  for  the  ordinary  sports  and  recreations  of  boy- 
hood and  youth.  The  College  and  its  Campus  are  of 
course  the  great  features  of  the  town,  and  in  the  latter 
part  of  the  last  century,  the  former  was  the  beau-ideal 
of  solid  magnificence. 

Born  within  sight  of  the  halls  of  learning  then  most 


16  LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

famous  in  the  land,  and  indeed  never  since  much  under- 
valued to  any  other  Collegiate  Institution  of  our  country, 
it  is  not  hard  to  fancy  that,  with  a  character  so  impres- 
sionable as  his,  the  child's  thoughts  must  have  very 
early  connected  the  ideas  of  influence  and  worth  with 
those  of  study — intelligence — learning.  How  early 
those  ideas  took  root  he  could  not  probably  tell  himself; 
but  their  effect  upon  his  after  life  prove  that  they  must 
have  been  dropped  into  the  soil,  long  before  the  ranker 
growth  of  worldly  ambition  or  pleasure  had  time  to 
possess  it. 

In  a  little  old-fashioned  frame  house — not  only  old 
fashioned  but  after  the  fashion  of  plain  country  houses 
of  that  time,  which  means  a  very  plain  house  indeed  in 
ours — his  childhood's  experiences  begun. 

The  sacrifices  of  the  war  had  not  entirely  exhausted 
his  father's  means,  although  they  had  greatly  reduced 
and  straitened  them.  The  pay  he  received  from  Gov- 
ernment aided  but  little  daring  the  war,  its  paper 
money  being  almost  worthless  ;  and  indeed  a  short  time 
after  the  close  of  it  became  altogether  so.  As  a  proof 
of  what  it  was,  Mr.  Cone  said  one  of  the  first  things  he 
took  notice  of  and  wondered  at  as  a  child,  and  always 
recollected  from  that  fact,  was  his  father's  paying  eigh- 
teen hundred  dollars  continental  money  for  a  saddle 
horse  worth  in  gold  or  silver  about  seventy  or  eighty  at 
the  same  period.  They  had  enough  however  for  com- 
fort, and  one  elegance  they  always  indulged  in  to  the 
last  limit  of  their  means,  and  very  often  a  little  beyond 
it — books.  Both  his  parents  were  great  readers.  If  the 
meal  tub  was  empty  they  could  take  it  with  great  phi- 
losophy— but  they  always  kept  the  mind  full.  He  has 
often  related  an  anecdote  of  his  mother  which  illustrated 
her  singular  thirst  for  knowledge  very  pleasantly,  and 
which  throws  a  clear  light  upon  the  influences  which 


LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON    CONE.  17 

were  at  work  in  his  childhood's  home,  to  make  the  basis 
of  the  man's  character. 

At  one  time,  when  quite  a  child,  they  moved  away 
from  the  town.  The  house  they  were  to  go  to  was  some 
miles  back  in  the  country,  and  early  in  the  morning  his 
mother  went  away  with  the  first  load  of  household  gear 
to  the  new  domicil,  for  the  purpose  of  setting  it  in  order, 
and  making  preparation  for  the  rest.  Towards  evening 
the  remainder  of  the  family  arrived.  Everything  about 
the  new  house  was  quiet.  Not  a  mouse  stirring.  ISTo 
mother  watching  to  receive  them  ;  no  mother  to  be  seen 
anywhere.  They  went  into  the  hall  and  kitchen,  cellar 
and  sitting-room  :  up  stairs  and  down.  Not  a  glimpse 
of  her.  They  began  to  be  alarmed — very  much  alarmed. 
Could  she  be  lost.  ISTo !—  The  things  were  there. 
The  horse  was  in  the  stable,  and  the  wagon  she  had 
come  in  stood  by  the  door. — Gould  she  have  been  mur- 
dered ? — Hardly :  for  there  were  no  marks  of  violence 
or  blood  ! — At  last,  after  every  other  place  had  been 
ransacked,  they  bethought  them  of  the  garret.  And 
there,  at  last,  they  found  her,  seated  on  the  floor,  her 
elbows  on  her  knees,  and  a  hook  in  her  lap — reading! 
She  had  found  an  odd  volume  of  Hume's  history  of  Eng- 
land in  the  house — picked  it  up,  become  interested,  then 
absorbed,  and  finally  forgotten  all  about  house  or  supper, 
or  moving,  or  anything  in  the  world  but  her  book  ;  and 
had  sat  there  well-nigh  the  whole  day — studying  history 
instead  of  cooking,  or  putting  chairs  and  tables  in  order. 

It  must  not  be  supposed,  however,  that  she  commonly 
forgot  the  real  in  the  imaginary  world,  or  the  present  in 
the  past.  Order  and  regularity  were  marked  qualities 
in  her  character;  and  a  miniature  of  her  when  quite  old, 
by  Anna  Peele,  represents  a  woman  still  beautiful,  and 
with  all  the  lines  of  thought  and  energy  so  clearly 
Btamped  upon  the  face  of  her  son.     The  resemblance 


18  LIFE    OF    SPENCER    HOUGHTON   CONE. 

between  their  faces  is  so  striking,  indeed,  that  but  for 
the  female  cap  and  dress  it  might  be  easily  supposed  a 
softened  portrait  of  himself.  Spencer  had  four  sisters 
and  a  brother.  The  difference  in  their  relative  ages 
was  not  great.  But,  although  tenderly  attached  to  all 
her  children,  Mrs.  Alice  Cone  seems  to  have  felt  for  her 
eldest  son  an  affection  which  nothing  but  the  natural 
strength  of  her  mind,  and  the  still  greater  strength  of 
her  religious  principles,  hindered  from  idolatry.  After 
events  have  raised  the  natural  promptings  of  a  Chris- 
tian mother's  heart  almost  to  the  dignity  of  prophecy, 
and  yet  we  know  they  could  be  no  more  than  almost 
every  other  such  mother  has  felt  and  hoped.  Thus  she 
always  persuaded  herself  that  God  had  some  special 
work  in  the  world  for  her  boy  to  do.  That  he  had  sent 
him  into  the  world  to  carry  out  some  not  unworthy,  and 
perhaps  noble  part  of  his  great  plan  of  Providence  ;  and 
that,  in  his  own  good  time  and  way,  he  would  bring  him 
out  and  set  him  in  a  sure  place.  She  believed  too,  with 
a  conviction  that  nothing  could  ever  shake  from  her, 
that  God  had  heard  her  prayers  ;  and  as  she  was  sitting 
by  his  cradle  when  he  was  yet  but  a  bab}r,  and  being 
downcast  for  some  trouble  which  was  upon  her,  fell 
into  gloomy  forebodings,  and  began  to  wrestle  with 
God  in  prayer  for  her  baby's  life,  only  his  life  ;  to  spare 
that  to  her,  no  matter  what  other  evil  might  come  upon 
her — she  believed,  we  say,  that  God  heard  and  answered 
her  :  "  Be  of  good  cheer  ! — not  only  shall  the  child  not 
die,  but  he  shall  live  to  preach  Christ  and  him  crucilied  !" 
And  thenceforward,  through  all  changes,  she  carried 
the  promise  in  her  heart,  and  had  no  fear  for  his  life. 
But  if  the  care  of  his  life  was  taken  from  her,  and  her 
maternal  anxiety  hushed  in  the  deep  faith  with  which 
she  received  into  her  soul  the  promise  of  his  Father  in 
heaven,  it  seemed  to  her  as  if  a  greater  duty,  a  more 


LIFE   OF  SPENCER    HOUGHTON   CONE.  19 

absorbing  anxiety,  had  been  substituted,  and  tbat  God 
had  given  for  awhile  into  her  keeping  a  soul  intended 
for  himself.  Under  this  conviction  she  watched  her  boy 
daily,  to  catch  the  first  dawn  of  intellect,  the  very  open- 
ing of  the  mind  and,  if  it  might  be,  endow  his  earliest 
purposes  with  holy  thoughts  and  words.  Every  occasion 
was  seized,  every  occurrence  improved,  with  an  eye 
single  to  that  future  she  believed  so  firmly  to  be  destined 
for  him,  persuaded  that  in  that  she  had  also  an  eye 
single  to  the  glory  of  God.  And  it  was  in  that  elevated 
feeling  that  she  began  to  teach  him,  investing  even  the 
common  lessons  of  honesty  and  truth  with  the  charm  of 
Christian  heroism. 

For  it  happened  one  day,  when  he  was  about  five 
years  old,  that  some  drovers,  reaching  their  place  about 
nightfall,  were  obliged  to  put  up  their  cattle  in  the  sheds, 
and  tarry  with  them  until  next  morning.  "When  the 
morning  came  they  got  their  cattle  together  again, 
mounted  their  horses,  and  went  upon  their  way.  That 
day,  as  Spencer  was  playing  in  the  barn,  he  found  a 
dollar — a  real  silver  dollar ;  and  silver  dollars  then  were 
not  the  common  coin  they  are  now.  War  and  a  depre- 
ciated paper  currency  had  raised  them  to  a  value  which 
would  now-a-days  seem  fabulous.  Spencer  thought  he 
was  a  made  man  for  life  ;  that  he  had  found  a  treasure, 
an  inexhaustible  mine  of  wealth.  So  he  ran  to  his 
mother  to  show  her  his  dollar. 

"  Tour  dollar,  Spencer,"  said  she.  "  Where  did  you 
get  it  ?" 

"  Oh  !  I  found  it  in  the  straw,  and  it's  mine." 

"  Not  so  fast,  my  son.  Let  us  think  of  that  a  little : 
silver  dollars  do  not  grow  in  the  straw  ?" 

"  Xo— mother." 

"  Then,  my  son,  somebody  must  have  put  it  there,  or 
somebody  must  have  lost  it  there." 


20  LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

"  Y  es,  mother,"  said  the  boy.  "  I  never  thought  of 
that." 

"  And  more  than  that,"  said  his  mother,  drawing  him 
to  her.  "  If  we  do  not  know  who  put  it  there,  God 
knows.  If  we  do  not  know  who  lost  it,  God  knows. 
He  sees  us  altogether.  And  besides,  Spencer,  if  you 
had  had  a  dollar,  a  silver  dollar,  and  had  been  so  care- 
less or  so  unfortunate  as  to  lose  it,  would  you  not  feel 
very  sorry,  and  would  you  not  hope  that  whoever  found 
it  would  try  and  find  out  who  it  belonged  to,  and  if  he 
heard  it  was  yours,  bring  it  back  to  you  ?" 

"  Oh,  yes  indeed  !"  he  cried,  earnestly. 

"  Well  then,"  said  the  mother,  winding  her  arms 
around  him.  "  You  and  I  will  ask  God  to  help  us  to  find 
out  who  this  money  belonged  to,  and  to  put  it  into  our 
hearts  to  always  try  and  do  unto  others  even  as  we 
would  that  they  should  do  unto  us." 

And  the  little  boy  prayed  well-nigh  as  earnestly  as  the 
Christian  mother  for  the  guidance  and  direction  of  their 
heavenly  Father.  And  so  his  mother  began  to  teach  him 
that  the  fear  of  God  was  the  beginning  of  wisdom.  It  was 
quite  a  year  after  before  the  drovers  came  that  way 
again  ;  but  the  first  thing  Spencer  did  was  to  run  out 
amongst  them,  with  the  silver  dollar  in  his  hand,  tell 
them  how  he  had  found  it  in  the  barn,  amongst  the 
straw,  after  they  had  gone  away,  and  beg  them  to  try 
and  remember  which  of  them  had  lost  it.  So  the  old 
fellows  laid  their  heads  together,  and  although  they 
would  have  liked  to  smile  at  the  child's  earnestness, 
refrained  out  of  wise  respect  for  the  principle  of  the 
thing,  and  pretended  to  try  very  hard  to  discover  the 
loser.  But  when  they  could  not,  after  much  question 
ing,  fix  upon  any  one  of  them  as  the  man,  they  very 
gravely  discussed  the  question  of  whose  property  it 
should    be,    and    finally    resolved    unanimously    that 


LIFE    OF    SPENCER    HOUGHTON    CONE.  21 

Spencer  should  keep  it  as  a  reward  for  his  honesty  ;  or 
rather  because  he  had  kept  it  so  long  and  well,  and 
taken  such  pains  to  discover  the  true  owner — for 
honesty  was  not  so  rare  a  quality  in  those  days  as  it  has 
come  to  be  in  later  times. 

It  may  not  be  amiss  to  notice  that  his  mother,  Alice 
Houghton,  was  the  daughter  of  Col.  Joab  Houghton  and 
Catharine  Runyon;  and  that  Catharine  Runyon  was 
the  child  of  one  of  the  early  Huguenot  refugees,  and 
that  both  her  parents  were  very  stern  old  French 
Calvinists — persons  of  that  earnest  faith  and  resolved 
temper  so  common  to  the  churches  of  our  faith 
amongst  the  mountains  of  the  Cevennes — a  faith  tem- 
pered in  the  blood  of  so  many  holy  and  glorious 
martyrs — a  temper  at  once  elevated  and  indurated  by 
persecution,  and  chastened  and  purified  by  suffering  to 
the  most  steadfast  endurance  of  all  earthly  trials,  the 
sublimest  anticipation  of  their  reward  in  heaven.  From 
the  dragonnades  of  Louis  XIY.,  and  the  smoking  ruins  of 
La  Rochelle,  they  came  out,  not  fainting,  not  destroyed, 
but  renewed  in  the  temper  and  spirit  of  their  minds ; 
and  brought  to  the  Western  world  that  indomitable 
courage  and  exalted  piety  which  were  ordained,  of  the 
Master  who  had  tried  them  in  the  fiery  furnace  of 
affliction,  as  the  elements  of  a  new  world  of  civil  and 
religious  freedom.  He  taught  them,  in  the  school  of 
royal  and  priestly  persecution,  man's  inalienable  rights — 
above  all  and  most  precious  of  all — his  right  to  worship 
God  according  to  the  dictates  of  his  own  conscience. 
They  brought  with  them  a  fixed  principle  of  personal  in- 
violability as  the  basis  of  their  political  system  ;  and  for 
their  religious  one,  undying  hostility  to  hierarchies  and 
state  religions,  and  an  immovable  fidelity  to  the  Inde- 
pendence of  the  Churches. 

These  things  they  taught  their  children  ;  and  these 


22  LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

things  Alice  Cone  taught  her  boy.  He  learned  his 
principles  in  childhood.  He  heard  them  as  soon  as  he 
could  listen  and  understand.  They  were  no  after- 
thought. They  were  not  learned  from  books,  nor 
gathered  up  in  schools  and  Theological  Institutes. 
They  were  inherited.  They  were  poured  into  his  mind 
fresh  from  hearts  which  had  bled  to  hear  from  the  lips 
of  those  who  had  suffered  in  their  own  persons  the  loss 
of  goods,  and  country,  and  all  the  endearments  of  the 
home  of  their  childhood  ;  who  had  suffered  imprison- 
ment and  stripes  and  all  but  death  itself,  for  Christ's 
sake — the  story  of  their  wrongs — the  reason  of  their 
bitter  persecutions.  It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that 
their  principles  took  deep  root  in  his  mind,  nor  thai 
they  bore  their  fruit  in  due  season.  Col.  Houghton 
was  still  living  when  Spencer  and  his  sister  Amelia 
were  between  six  and  eight  years  old. 

"  Grandfather  Houghton,"  says  the  latter,  in  a  late 
letter,  "  was  as  easily  affected  to  tears  as  a  woman." 
She  is  speaking  of  how  his  feelings  could  be  wrought 
upon  by  reminiscences  of  the  war,  or  heroic  sentiment 
of  any  kind  : — 

"The  last  we  remember  of  him  was  once  when  mother 
took  all  of  us  children  up  to  his  house.  He  would  have 
us  sing  for  him.  We  sung  '  Hail  Columbia '  as  well  as 
we  could.  He  was  completely  overcome,  and  cried 
like  a  child.  Our  Father  Cone  was  just  like  him,  and 
wept  easily.  They  both  sung  finely.  Uncle  Houghton 
said  they  could  hear  grandfather  sing  three-quarters  of 
a  mile.  Both  of  them  used  to  set  the  Psalms  in  church. 
I  remember  hearing  them.  My  dear  brother's  voice 
was  hereditary.  It  ran  in  the  Houghton  and  Cone 
family.  Our  lather  had  naturally  all  the  qualities  of  a 
public  speaker.  His  language  flowed  easily  and  natu- 
rally.    He  was  a  philanthropist,  and   greatly  injured 


LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE.  23 

himself  and  family  by  his  too  great  generosity.     He 
spoke  at  Grandfather  Houghton's  grave." 

What  a  singular  transmission  of  qualities !  His  son 
inherited  the  same  strange  compelling  sense  of  duty. 
It  is  evident  there  was  no  one  there  when  the  old 
soldier  was  laid  to  rest,  who  could  do  him  justice  hut 
Conan't  Cone.  He  felt  it.  He  had  been  his  fellow- 
soldier — and  fought  with  him  in  the  same  holy  cause. 
He  felt  it  to  be  a  duty.  That  simple  idea,  heroic  in  its 
simplicity,  bore  down  everything  else ;  put  back  the 
teai's  ;  conquered  the  selfish  weakness  of  humanity — 
conquered  all  but  the  high  sense  of  duty  to  the  dead — 
and  he  stood  up  and  spoke  for  him  to  the  living. 

It  is  not  a  little  singular,  too,  that  three  generations  of 
the  same  stock  should  not  only  be  controlled  by  the 
same  all-powerful  sentiment  of  duty,  but  also  that  in 
each  of  them  it  should  take  the  same  development  in 
love  of  country,  lofty  patriotism,  perpetual  looking  to 
the  people,  as  the  source  of  all  power,  and  the  object  of 
all  effort  politically ;  and  in  religious  affairs,  to  the 
propagation  of  Baptist  sentiments.  Three  generations 
thought,  and  spoke,  and  acted  as  one;  all  looking  from 
remote  and  various  periods  of  time  to  one  object,  and 
working  for  one  glorious  faith  of  civil  and  religious 
independence. 

Grandfather,  father,  and  mother  were  all  at  one  time, 
members  together  of  the  old  Hopewell  Baptist  Church. 

The  meeting-house  is  a  square,  old-fashioned,  stone 
building  of  some  size,  and  is  pleasantly  situated  in  the 
lower  part  of  Hunterdon  county.  There  are  hundreds 
like  it  scattered  through  the  land,  and  few  can  fail  to 
picture  from  their  own  memory  such  a  place — with  its 
plain,  high-backed  pews,  made  neither  for  ornament  nor 
ease ;  its  square  pulpit,  perched  high  up  in  one  end  ;  its 
white-washed  walls,  and  general  air  of  rude  and  simple 


24  LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

solemnity.  One  feature  is  peculiar — before  the  meet- 
ing-house still  nourish  one  or  two  trees,  now  almost  cen 
tenarians,  and  beneath  whose  shade  many  generations 
have  met  in  the  pleasant  hush  of  the  Sabbath,  to 
exchange  weekly  their  kind  greetings  before  entering 
together  the  house  of  prayer. 

Dr.  Cone  says,  in  a  sermon  delivered  in  1844,  and  of 
which, happily,  a  phonographic  report  was  made — "My 
mother  was  baptized  wThen  I  was  a  few  months  old. " 

He  refers,  a  little  after,  to  the  conviction  of  his  future 
calling,  impressed  so  early  upon  her  mind  : — 

"  When  I  was  a  few  months  old,  and  soon  after  her 
baptism,  as  I  was  sleeping  in  her  lap,  she  was  much 
drawn  out  in  prayer  for  her  babe,  and  supposed  she  re- 
ceived an  answer,  with  the  assurance  that  her  child 
should  live  to  preach  the  Gospel  of  Christ.  This  assur- 
ance never  left  her ;  and  it  induced  her  to  make  the 
most  persevering  efforts  to  send  me  to  Princeton  (Col- 
lege)— a  course,  at  first,  very  much  against  my  father's 
will.  This  she  told  me  after  my  conversion.  It  had 
been  a  comfort  to  her  in  the  darkest  hour  of  domestic 
trial ;  for  she  had  never  doubted  but  that  her  hope 
would  be  sooner  or  later  fulfilled.  " 

When  Spencer  was  but  eight  years  old,  and  while 
he  was  spending  a  few  months  with  his  grandfather 
Houghton,  he  accompanied  him  to  an  annual  Baptist 
gathering,  known  as  the  "  Hopewell  Great  Meeting.  " 
Here  he  was  first  awakened  to  see  his  lost  condition  as 
a  sinner.  A  sermon  was  preached  on  that  memorable 
occasion,  by  Mr.  James  McLaughlin,  from  Jer.  viii.  22: 
"Is  there  no  balm  in  Gilead?  Is  there  no  physician 
there  ?  " 

"This  sermon,"  he  says,  "  deejjly  affected  me.  It 
left  upon  my  mind  an  impression  never  eradicated — a 
fystem  of  theology  never  forgotten  ;  viz  : — ■ 


LIFE   OF    SPENCEK    HOUGHTON    CONE.  25 

«  1.  Total  Depravity  ; 

"2.  Universal  Condemnation; 

"  3.  Salvation  alone  by  the  balm  of  Gilead — the  blood 
of  the  Lamb. 

"  I  was  so  affected  by  this  sermon  that  for  months  I 
was  afraid  to  go  to  sleep  without  saying  the  Lord's 
Prayer,  as  it  is  called,  or  some  other  little  form  taught 
me  by  my  mother.  But  the  impression  wore  off,  and 
left  me  thoughtless  and  playful  as  it  found  me.  " 

About  two  years  after  this,  he  accompanied  his 
mother  to  hear  a  sermon,  preached  by  Dr.  Ashbel 
Green,  of  Philadelphia.  Dr.  Green  preached  very 
powerfully,  from  John  i.  29  : — 

'"'•Behold  the  Lamb  of  God  which  taketh  away  the  sin 
of  the  world. " 

"His  mind  was  again  seized  with  distressing  convic- 
tions of  his  ruined  condition  as  a  sinner,  of  his  base 
ingratitude,  and  of  the  efficiency  of  the  blood  and 
righteousness  of  Christ  alone,  to  save  him. 

"  For  a  time  he  strove  again  to  do  good,  but  strove  in 
his  own  strength,  and  evil,  and  only  evil,  was  present 
wirh  him  ;  so  that  he  soon  ceased  to  pray,  and  gave 
himself  up  again  to  folly.  " — Dr.  Armitage. 

It  is  not  often  that  childish  convictions  are  so  strong, 
nor  their  effects  so  lasting.  "\Ye  are  compelled  to  admit 
their  reality  and  significance  too,  by  the  consideration 
that,  they  arose  in  a  mind  the  very  reverse  of  gloomy 
or  mystical,  by  natural  tendencies.  His  temper  was 
gay  and  mercurial,  his  animal  spirits  inexhaustible. 
The  most  prevailing  characteristic  of  his  mind,  too 
was  always  a  turn  to  humor ;  and  this,  added  to  a 
physical  development  of  uncommon  power,  and  a 
nervous  activity,  amounting  almost  to  constant  restless- 
ness, would  seem  to  offer  as  many  natural  antagonisms 
to  religious  impressions  as  could  well  be  combined  in 

2 


26  LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

one  man.  "When  it  is  considered,  tliat  these  qualities 
are  always  more  marked  and  exuberant  in  childhood, 
the  singularity  of  his  early  impressions  is  largely  en- 
hanced. 


LIFE   OF   SPENCER    HOUGHTON   CONE.  27 


CHAPTER  III. 


BOYHOOD. 


During  childhood,  Spencer  had  frequent,  and.  often 
severe  attacks  of  sickness ;  and  was  constantly  troubled 
with  sick  headache.  This  determined  his  mother  tc 
send  him  away  from  the  village  to  his  grandfather's  farm. 
Living  there  the  greater  part  of  the  time  for  several 
years,  running  about  the  farm  and  taking  constant  and 
hardy  exercise,  he  gradually  outgrew  all  tendency  to 
headache  ;  his  periodical  attacks  became  rarer  and  rarer, 
and  when  about  eleven  years  old  his  health  was  firmly 
established.  From  that  time,  and  during  his  whole  life 
after,  he  enjoyed  an  exemption  from  even  the  slightest 
attacks  of  sickness,  and  was  confirmed  in  a  strength  and 
vigor  of  body,  which  never  seemed  to  fail  him  under 
the  hardest  physical  or  mental  labors. 

On  the  farm  or  in  the  village  he  was  the  soul  and 
centre  of  every  boyish  scheme  of  frolic  or  amusement. 

In  the  winter  the  Millstone  river,  which  runs  close 
by  the  village — we  speak  of  the  last  century,  for  we 
believe  it  has  since  risen  to  the  dignity  of  a  city — was 
the  scene  of  their  enjoyment,  and  in  the  rough  game 
of  "hurley,"  he  had  the  reputation  of  the  best  "bat" 
on  the  ice. 

In  milder  seasons  "base"  and  "  cricket,"  assisted  the 
development  of  his  boyish  strength. 

Very  early  amongst  the  boys  of  his  own  age,  he  began 
to  play  the  part  of  a  leader ;  and  the  whole  rout  of 
village  urchins  looked  up  to  Spencer  H.,  as  they  called 


'28  LIFE    OF    SPENOEK    HOTJGHTON   CCXSTE. 

him,  for  direction.  His  bo}Tish  motto  seems  to  Lave 
been  "  Caesar  or  nothing."  He  undertook  all  the  details, 
as  well  as  the  grand  effects  of  their  plays.  Very  late  in 
life  he  remembered  a  struggle  for  precedency  between 
himself  and  some  of  the  older  boys.  They  had  formed 
a  company  of  soldiers,  and  got  along  very  smoothly  as 
far  as  paper  caps,  and  rag  epaulettes ;  but  the  guns 
were  a  sticking  point.  This  was  his  opportunity.  An 
older  boy  had  been  chosen  captain  ;  but  he  had  no 
mechanical  ingenuity,  or,  if  he  had,  was  without  the 
means  and  chances  of  exercising  it.  Spencer's  father 
had  a  forge  and  workshop  on  the  place.  What  was  to 
be  done  ?  The  gallant  company  gathered  round  Spencer, 
and  tried  to  coax  him  into  gun-making.  "Make  me 
captain,"  said  Spencer — "and  I'll  make  your  guns." 
That  was  his  ultimatum.  Every  boy  knew  that  what 
Spencer  once  said,  all  the  pincers  and  red  hot  ireu  in 
the  blacksmith's  shop  could  not  frighten  him  from,  if 
they  should  take  him  apart  piece  by  piece  with  them. 
So  the  first  captain  was  obliged,  by  the  unanimous 
revolt  of  his  troops,  to  lay  down  his  wooden  sword  and 
truncheon  of  command,  and  Spencer  as  unanimously 
elected  in  his  place.  And  Spencer  made  the  guns,  and 
paraded  his  company  to  the  general  delight  and  amuse- 
ment of  the  villagers,  amongst  whom  the  story  of  his 
"  coiip  d^'etaf''  had  not  failed  to  get  abroad. 

His  great  delight  as  a  boy  was  English  poetry,  and  at  a 
very  early  age  he  had  by  heart  a  little  repertory  of  the 
finest  passages  in  the  language.  Shakespeare,  Milton, 
and  Dryden  were  familiar  to  him,  and  he  could  recite 
thousands  of  their  lines,  at  an  age  when  few  boys  have 
any  idea  or  appreciation  of  such  things.  It  was  a  nat- 
ural bent.  He  studied  them  of  his  own  motion.  During 
his  whole  life,  indeed,  he  was  passionately  fond  of  tine 
poetry,  and  the  immense  stores  of  it  laid  up  by  his  sin- 


LITE   OF   SPENCER   IIOTTGHTON   CONE.  29 

gularly  retentive  memory  gave  a  warmth  and  richness 
to  his  diction  in  public  speaking,  a  romantic  form  and 
coloring  to  his  sentences  which  was  not  the  least 
among  the  charms  of  his  oratory.  His  sister  says  of 
him : 

"  He  was  always  a  good  boy — obedient  and  loving 
to  his  parents,  and  kind  to  his  brother  and  sisters. 
Oftentimes  I  used  to  ask  him  to  go  into  the  next  room 
and  speak  for  me.  He  spoke  so  sweetly  that,  in  my 
sisterly  view,  there  never  was  his  like.  I  used  to  be  the 
audience,  and  lie  the  orator.  He  would  speak  '  Hannibal 
to  his  Soldiers,' — and  then  I  was  in  raptnres.  Some- 
times he  spoke  '  My  name  is  aSTorval" — or  '  In  such  a 
night  stood  Jessica.'  In  truth  he  was  no  vulgar  boy. 
I  never  remember  him  to  have  been  in  brawls  with 
other  boys.  He  was  truly  gifted  by  nature  and  by 
grace.  To  those  who  never  saw  him,  nor  heard  his 
voice — what  pen  can  describe  him  ? — Oh  !  could  we 
paint  in  bold  relief  his  grace,  his  air,  his  manner,  his 
voice,  his  reading — the  eloquent  expression  of  his  coun- 
tenance ;  his  beautiful  self  possession — modest,  yet  firm 
and  energetic.  These  were  his  natural  graces ;  but 
better  than  all,  lie  was  God's  Man.'''' 

The  judgment  of  the  Christian  world  has  assented  to 
the  truth  of  the  portrait  drawn  by  sisterly  affection. 

Urged  by  his  mother,  whose  anxiety  to  push  him  for- 
ward was  sleepless,  he  applied  himself  to  Greek,  Latin, 
and  mathematics  with  an  assiduity  which  nothing  but  an 
extraordinary  constitution  could  have  supported.  A 
Latin  or  Greek  Grammar  was  always  in  his  hand  and, 
like  Person,  his  pockets  were  always  plethoric  with  a 
small  library  of  classical  literature.  Under  this  forcing 
process,  he  made  a  very  rapid  progress,  and  his  memory 
became  cultivated  to  a  remarkable  decree.     How  thor- 


30  LIFE    OF    SPENCER    HOUGHTON   CONE. 

oughly  the  Greek  and  Latin  had  been  ingrained,  might 
be  gathered  from  the  fact  that  on  reference  to  passages  in 
Cicero,  Seneca,  or  Homer,  which  he  had  not  read  for  half 
a  century,  he  would  correct,  from  memory,  verbal  inac- 
curacies in  the  Greek  or  Latin  text,  and  give  readily  the 
passages  in  the  context  illustrative  of  a  particular  sentence. 
His  boys,  whilst  at  school  or  in  college,  often  tried, 
out  of  curiosity,  how  much  he  did  recollect,  and  finally 
concluded,  either  that  he  remembered  all  he  had  ever 
learned  at  school,  by  some  quality  of  memory  peculiar 
to  himself,  or  else  that  schoolmasters  in  the  eighteenth 
century  had  a  very  peculiar  knack  of  making  what  they 
taught  stay  for  ever  in  the  heads  of  their  pupils. 

One  of  his  masters  had  a  narrow  escape  of  martyrdom, 
or  rather  sacrifice  to  popular  resentment,  on  his  account. 
He  was  an  Irishman  ;  a  very  finished  scholar,  and  a 
great  mathematician,  but  unfortunately  addicted  to  the 
wine-cup,  and  when  he  had  been  indulging  became 
savage  and  cruel  towards  his  scholars. 

In  one  of  his  fits  of  intemperance  he  accused  Spencer 
of  having  told  a  falsehood.  No  threats  however  could 
force  him  to  admit  the  guilt  of  an  act  so  foreign  to  his 
nature  ;  an  act  indeed  of  which  he  was  never  known  to 
be  guilty,  and  the  meanness  of  which  he  always  held 
in  utter  contempt.  He  esteemed  lying  the  vice  only  of 
cowards,  and  being  essentially  without  natural  fear,  the 
idea  of  it  was  entirely  contemptible  to  him. 

The  pedagogue,  unable  to  compel  him  to  confess  what 
he  was  not  guilty  of,  seized  Spencer  and  beat  him 
unmercifully.  The  poor  little  fellow  bore  it  heroically, 
and  when  school  was  out  went  home  without  complaint. 
But  when  he  came  to  undress  for  bed,  he  was  so  stiff 
and  sore  that  he  could  not  get  his  clothes  off  himself, 
and  had  to  ask  his  mother's  help.     As  this  was  unusual 


LIFE   OF   SPENCEK    HOUGHTON   CONE.  31 

slie  fell  to  examining  him,  and  when  his  jacket  was 
taken  off,  found  his  shirt  saturated  with  blood,  and  his 
whole  back  gashed  and  welted  with  the  whip  of  the 
cruel  drunkard. 

Before  an  hour  was  passed  the  story  had  got  from  one 
end  of  Princeton  to  the  other.  The  townspeople  took 
it  up  as  a  public  matter,  and  were  making  their  arrange- 
ments to  inflict  summary  punishment  upon  the  offender. 
Luckily  for  him  some  friend  or  crony  carried  the  news 
to  him,  and  helped  him  to  a  horse,  thus  giving  him  an 
hour's  start  of  Judge  Lynch  and  his  officers.  The  latter, 
when  his  flight  was  discovered,  mounted  in  hot  haste 
and  tracked  him  for  miles.  Here  they  lost  the  trail ; 
and  returned  with  vows  of  future  vengeance.  But  the 
offender  never  gave  them  an  opportunity.  They  learned 
afterwards  that  he  had  got  away  to  Xew  York ;  and  he 
took  good  care  never  to  return  to  Princeton. 

At  the  early  age  of  twelve,  Spencer  entered  the 
freshman  class  of  Princeton  College.  He  stood  the 
examination  for  admission  with  great  credit  to  himself; 
and  with  how  much  satisfaction  to  that  doting  mother, 
whose  heart  was  wrapped  up  in  him,  and  who  looked 
forward  to  ids  future  career  with  as  much  confidence  as 
if  she  had  indeed  a  "  thus  saith  the  Lord,"  to  repose  her 
faith  upon,  only  a  mother's  heart  can  appreciate. 

During  the  freshman  and  sophomore  years  he  main- 
tained his  standing  in  his  classes,  and  grew  daily  in. 
favor  with  the  Faculty.  He  was  uncommonly  large 
and  forward  for  his  age,  attaining  his  full  growth  as  a 
man,  indeed,  between  the  ages  of  twelve  and  fourteen  ; 
but  his  face  was  very  boyish,  and  the  contrast  between 
his  extremely  youthful  appearance,  and  the  grave  and 
thoughtful  purpose  with  which  he  pursued  his  studies, 
recommended  him  to  the  notice  and  favor  of  his  pro- 
fessors. 


32  LIFE    OF   SPENCEK   HOUGHTON    CONE. 

At  the  close  of  the  first  speech  which,  as  part  of  the 
routine  of  college  exercises,  it  was  his  duty  to  deliver, 
the  president  (Dr.  Smith)  laid  his  hand  upon  his  head, 
and  nodding  to  him  approvingly,  said,  "Young  man, 
your  voice  will  be  your  fortune," 

It  was  a  prophetic  criticism. 

The  Doctor,  a  man  very  eminent,  and  in  many 
respects  peculiar,  formed  a  strong  friendship  for  the  lad. 
He  was  a  great  chess-player,  extravagantly  fond  of  the 
game,  and  excelling  in  it.  Discovering  that  Spencer 
played  chess,  he  had  him  up  to  the  presidential  quarters 
for  a  trial  of  skill.  The  trial  evidently  pleased  him,  for 
it  was  often  repeated  ;  and  their  contests  over  the  chess- 
board did  the  boy-collegian  no  damage  in  the  eyes  of 
the  grave  functionary,  whose  nod,  within  the  charmed 
circle  of  the  college-walls,  was  fate. 

It  was  his  fortune  to  be  a  student  of  Princeton  at  a 
time  when  the  roll  of  that  institution  was  filled  with 
names,  since  illustrious  in  the  literary  and  political  his- 
tory of  our  country.  Amongst  them  were  James  Fenni- 
more  Cooper,  the  novelist,  and  John  Forsyth,  late  Secre- 
tary of  the  United  States  Treasury.  During  his  brief 
collegiate  career,  there  occurred  one  of  the  most  memo- 
rable events  in  the  history  of  Nassau  Hall.  We  refer 
to  the  celebrated  rebellion  and  "  barring  out,"  in  the 
course  of  which  the  students  took  possession  of  the  build- 
ing, barricaded  and  fortified  it,  placed  cannon  in  the 
hall,  and  held  it  as  a  besieged  fortress  against  the  col- 
legiate and  town  authorities  for  some  days.  The  crown- 
ing act  of  the  rebellion  was  the  almost  entire  destruction 
of  the  college  by  fire.  We  believe  Fenimore  Cooper 
was  tried  upon  suspicion  as  the  incendiary,  but  was 
acquitted. 

Literary  societies,  as  all  know,  exist  in  every  college : 
and  during  his  collegiate  course,  Spencer  belonged  to 


LIFE   OF    6PENCEE    nOUGHTCXN   CONE.  33 

the  "  Whig"  Society  of  Princeton.  Many  young  men, 
who  have  since  filled  the  highest  offices  in  the  State  and 
Church,  were  fellow-members  ;  and  he  has  said  an  hun- 
dred times,  that,  although,  in  riper  years,  it  had  been  his 
fortune  to  listen  to  some  of  the  most  renowned  orators, 
legists,  and  ecclesiastics,  he  had  never  heard,  on  the 
floor  of  Congress,  at  the  bar,  or  in  the  pulpit,  finer 
speaking,  nor  seen  debates  conducted  with  more  dignity 
and  decorum  than  within  the  walls  of  the  Whig  Society. 
He  attributed  much  of  his  own  training  to  the  influence 
it  exercised  upon  his  mind,  at  the  most  impressionable 
period  of  his  life. 

But  in  the  very  midst  of  his  career  of  study,  and  when 
his  prospects  of  distinction  were  fairest,  Providence 
turned  the  current  of  his  life  into  a  new  channel.  The 
halcyon  days  of  study,  reflection,  and  domestic  felicity, 
were  to  be  succeeded  by  years  of  struggle  and  trial, 
pecuniary  embarrassment  and  apparently  hopeless  effort. 

Dr.  Armitage,  in  the  eloquent  and  chaste  funeral 
address  delivered  by  him  Sept.  16th,  1855,  has  fallen 
into  an  error  in  stating  that  "  He  was  pursuing  his 
studies  with  avidity  when  his  father  was  unexpectedly 
taken  away  by  death."  It  was  if  possible  a  sterner  trial 
which  summoned  him  from  the  seclusion  of  collegiate 
study,  to  a  bitter  strife — a  hand  to  hand  grapple  with 
the  world  for  daily  bread. 

A  philanthropist  by  nature  and  habit;  entirely 
improvident  in  regard  to  money,  upon  which  he  set  no 
other  value  than  as  it  would  serve  a  friend,  or  relieve  a 
suffering  fellow-creature,  his  father  suddenly  found  him- 
self penniless.  The  exposure  and  hardships  of  the 
Revolution,  and  the  wTounds  received  in  it,  had  unfitted 
him  for  active  exertion.  A  high-spirited  soldier,  he  was 
too  proud  to  beg.  A  frequent  invalid,  he  was  unable  to 
work.     He  saw  starvation  and  penury,  perhaps  con- 

2* 


34  LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

tempt  and  disgrace,  the  common  fortune  of  the  poor, 
staring  him  in  the  face.  His  mind  gave  way  under  the 
pressure.  He  could  not  meet  the  crisis.  He  could  not 
bear  the  anticipation.  He  fell  into  a  state  of  morbid 
melancholy,  soon  followed  by  decided  aberrations  of 
mind.  He  had  frecpaent,  and  sometimes  lengthened 
intervals  of  entire  sanity,  but  his  mind  was  never 
wholly  restored  to  a  state  which  could  be  looked  to  as 
permanent,  and  he  was  unfitted  for  the  care  of  his 
family. 

It  was  thus  at  the  age  of  only  fourteen  that  Spencer 
found  himself  the  sole  hope  and  support  of  his 
mother,  and  left  by  the  mysterious  providence  of  God 
to  support  her,  his  stricken  father,  four  sisters,  and  a 
brother  !  All  of  the  latter,  young  children  and  incapa- 
ble of  assisting  themselves  or  him. 

Did  he  hesitate;  did  he  despair  ?  Never  less.  It  was 
not  in  his  nature.  His  mind  was  like  a  finely-tempered 
spring ;  the  greater  the  pressure,  the  greater  the  recoil. 
He  had,  unconverted  as  well  as  converted,  a  pure  and 
simple  trust  in  God.  His  mother  had  labored  night  and 
day  to  instill  it  into  his  mind,  and  her  labor  had  not  been 
in  vain.  He  never  doubted.  His  only  question  was — 
What  is  duty? — and  when  conscience  and  meditation, 
as  he  believed,  told  him  what  was  duty,  he  did  it — 
"  Not  having  the  fear  of  man  before  his  eyes."  And 
now  that  they  were  poor,  and  the  bread  for  the  little 
ones  of  the  flock  began  to  fail,  he  said,  "  Mother,  you 
have  worked  to  feed  me  whilst  I  got  an  education  ;  and 
now,  with  God's  blessing,  my  education  shall  feed  you." 

And    it   so   happened  that  a  Dr.  ,  who   kept  a 

school  at  Basking  Ridge,  had  advertised  for  an  assistant 
in  his  school,  and  he  resolved  to  go  and  ask  for  the  situ- 
ation. But  Basking  Ridge  was  more  than  thirty  miles 
away  from  Princeton,  and  he  had  no  money,  nor  no  coa 


LITE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE.  35 

fit  to  go  amongst  strangers,  who  would  undoubtedly 
scrutinize  him  closely,  and  be,  perhaps,  unfavorably  im- 
pressed towards  him  if  he  came  amongst  them  thread- 
bare and  out  at  elbows.  But  mother  Alice  had  a  gay 
scarlet  cardinal,  of  very  fine  cloth,  which  not  long  before, 
in  better  days,  she  had  worn  on  Sundays  and  holy  days, 
to  the  great  envy  of  many  female  neighbors.  And 
mother  Alice  sat  down  and  ripped  her  gay  cardinal 
apart,  for  she  would  wear  nothing  so  fine  now,  and  got 
dye-stuff  and  dyed  it  a  sober  brown  ;  and  then  set  to 
work  night  and  day,  to  make  the  lad  a  new  coat ;  drop- 
ping many  hot  tears  all  the  while,  which  hindered  her 
sadly,  but  they  would  come;  and  praying — praying, 
oh  !  how  fervently,  that  God — the  God  who  had  brought 
his  fathers  up  out  of  more  straits  than  this,  and  had 
been  with  them  and  with  their  children  to  that  hour — ■ 
would  be  with  her  boy,  and  save  him  from  the  disap- 
pointment and  heart-sinking  of  his  first  rude  trial — 
graciously  turning  the  stranger's  heart  towards  him, 
that  he  might  not  fail. 

How  often  he  has  said  he  never  had  such  another 
coat  as  that.  It  fitted  him  so  perfectly.  It  was  so  com- 
fortable and  warm.  He  felt  so  happy  in  it.  It  seemed 
as  if  it  had  his  mother's  loving  tears  and  blessing  in 
every  thread  of  it. 

So  he  put  it  on,  and  before  the  day  broke  started  off 
for  Basking  Ridge,  his  only  companions  a  good  stout, 
knotted  stick,  and  a  heart  full  of  the  happy  feeling,  that 
he  was*  about  to  be  useful.  Glorious  boy  ! — that  feeling 
made  him  happier  than  a  monarch  in  all  his  pride  of 
place.  No  one  need  pity  him  that  morning — as  they 
see  him  stepping  out  into  the  cold  twilight,  and  button- 
ing his  coat  up,  and  striking  off  briskly,  half  running — 
to  keep  him  warm.  Their  pity  would  be  thrown  away — 
utterly  wasted.     He  was  rich  as  Croesus ;  and  happier 


36  LIFE   OF    SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

than  ever  money  made  the  Lydian  king :  Rich  in  youth, 
and  hope,  rich  in  unconquerable  determination — above 
all  in  love  and  duty; — in  the  idea  that  he  was  about  to 
live  to  some  good  purpose — and  be  useful  to  others.  That 
was  his  happiness  always.  He  was  as  young,  and  dar- 
ing, and  happy  in  it  when  the  snows  of  seventy  winters 
whitened  on  his  head,  as  Avhen  the  morning  damp  hung 
on  his  rich,  brown  curls  the  day  that  he  stepped  out  there 
first  into  the  wide  world  to  fight  for  bread  amongst  its 
starving  millions.  He  was  not  to  be  pitied — he  was 
to  be  envied. 

He  could  not  afford  to  ride  ;  but  he  was  not  a  whit 
afraid  to  walk — nor  to  say  why  he  walked.  And  that 
day  he  walked  the  thirty  miles,  and  not  very  late  in  the 
evening  came  to  Basking  Ridge,  and  the  house  of  the 
doctor  who  had  advertised  for  an  assistant. 

But,  as  if  Providence  would  have  him  tried  and 
proved  at  the  very  outset — as  if  it  would  put  his  metal 
to  the  touch  and  try  if  it  were  pure  gold — he  was  here 
to  meet  with  a  disappointment — perhaps  the  hardest  of 
all  the  many  which  beset  his  pathway  in  life — his  first 
disappointment. 

We  all  know  how  time,  and  the  repeated  failure  of 
favorite  plans  daily  for  years,  come  at  last  to  harden  us, 
to  dull  the  fine  edge  of  our  capacity  for  suffering,  to 
inure  us  to  disappointment,  to  bring  us  to  that  point  that 
disappointment  is  rather  a  vague  idea  than  a  keen  reality. 
We  become  schooled  to  it — indurated  and  callous.  But 
the  first  disappointment  of  a  brave,  loving,  hopeful  boy  ; 
the  disappointment  of  his  first  exalted  scheme  of  labor 
for  those  he  loved,  and  whose  little  hands  had  been  tug- 
ging at  his  heart-strings  all  that  lonely  walk  of  thirty 
weary  miles !  Can  we  not  fancy  what  such  a  boy  as  he 
was  had  been  thinking  all  the  way  ?  How  he  had  said 
to  himself,  "  The  Doctor  must  be  a  good  man,  a  man  who 


THE   LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE.  37 

feels  for  trouble.  He  will  see  my  situation.  lie  will 
sympathize  with  me.  I  will  tell  him  all  my  little  story 
of  family  affliction.  God  will  help  me  to  tell  it  rightly. 
I  know  he  will,  for  it  is  a  true  tale,  and  I  am  going  to 
work  for  my  mother  and  father,  my  brother  and  my 
sisters.  He  will  employ  me.  I  shall  not  receive  much 
salary,  perhaps.  I  am  too  young  to  have  a  right  to 
expect  much.  But  it  will  be  enough  to  keep  them 
all  at  home ;  and  for  myself,  I  shall  want  nothing. 
Have  I  not  a  new  coat — this  blessed  coat,  dear  mother 
sat  up  all  last  night  to  finish  for  me?  Has  she  not  put 
all  my  things  in  order  ?  No,  I  shall  want  nothing.  I 
shall  have  food  and  lodging,  and  books  to  study  for 
nothing — and  all  my  money  I  can  send  home.  Oh !  I 
shall  be  so  happy  to  be  able  to  do  it — so  happy,  young 
as  I  am,  to  have  the  privilege  of  denying  myself  for 
their  sake,  for  her  sake  who  has  denied  herself  so  much 
to  give  me  an  education  !" 

Who  can  doubt,  that  ever  knew  him,  that  just  such 
thoughts  beguiled  the  tedious  journey,  and  buoyed  him 
up  all  clay  long,  and  made  him  forget  the  weariness 
of  the  way. 

But  when  he  came  to  Basking  Ridge,  the  Doctor  had 
obtained  an  assistant.  Only  the  day  before  he  had 
engaged  one.  Do  yon  not  pity  the  boy  ?  Alas  !  how 
his  heart  must  have  sunk  within  him  ! 

The  Doctor  was  very  kind  and  hospitable,  it  is  true — 
but  what  a  bitter  disappointment.  He  made  him  stay 
with  him  all  night ;  gave  him  his  supper,  and  a  good 
bed,  and  talked  comfortably  and  wisely  with  him.  But 
poor  Spencer  cried  himself  to  sleep  that  night ;  and  the 
next  morning  turned  with  a  heavy  heart  to  retrace  his 
steps  ;  and  weary,  foot-sore,  and  sad,  reached  Princeton 
late  at  night.  It  was  harder  walking  back  from  Bask- 
ing Ridge  hopeless,  than  going  there  full  of  the  first 


38  THE    LIFE    OF    SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

unchecked  plans  and  expectations  of  a  heart  fresh  to 
the  world,  and  ignorant  of  its  trials.  One  of  the  bright 
prophets  of  the  future — Youth,  was  with  him  still,  but 
his  twin  brother,  Hope,  lagged  wearily  behind.  Not  long 
after  his  return  to  Princeton,  however,  a  little  door  of 
hope  was  opened  for  him  and  he  obtained  a  place  in  the 
Princeton  Academy. 

He  thus  speaks  of  it  in  a  letter  dated  September  5th, 
1810: 

"The  cup  of  life  to  me  has  been  a  cup  of  bitterness. 
I  came  into  the  active  world  at  fourteen  years  of  age, 
overburdened  with  duties  and  difficulties.  I  beheld  my 
mother,  and  my  little  sisters  left  completely  destitute — 
without  the  means  of  procuring  a  comfortable  subsis- 
tence— without  a  friend  or  a  father  to  support  and  pro- 
tect them.  Notwithstanding  my  extreme  youth,  when 
our  house  and  everything  belonging  to  lis  was  sold,  I  was 
so  fortunate  as  to  procure  the  situation  of  Latin  teacher 
in  the  Princeton  Academy.  My  salary,  however,  was 
so  trifling  that  it  barely  kept  us  alive.  ******  It 
would  only  give  a  useless  pang  to  your  sympathizing 
heart,  to  tell  you  how  I  struggled,  and  what  I  suffered, 
during  those  delightful  years  when  nature  wears  no 
mask.  Those  years  of  happy  youth,  that  by  most  are 
merrily  spent  in  study  or  amusement,  to  me  brought 
nothing  in  their  train  but  vexation  and  disappointment. 
Though  I  lived  at  that  period  with  the  strictest  economy, 
I  found  we  were  sinking  daily  more  and  more  into  debt 
• — but  I  still  persisted  in  keeping  my  family  together." 

Poor  boy !  Fourteen  was  very  young  to  study  so 
hard  a  lesson.  Self-denial;  poverty  ;  debt;  disappoint- 
ment— almost  despair — But  so — 

''By  all  that  wrings  the  heart  of  sin, 
His  wisdom  wins  to  Heaven." 


LITE    OF    SPENCER    HOUGHTON    CONE.  39 

A  rough  roacl  indeed :  but  it  made  a  rugged  and 
brave  traveller  of  him. 

Speaking  of  that  period  and  his  trials,  his  only  survi- 
ving sister  says. 

"  He  took  a  house  for  mother,  and  came  to  Princeton 
and  carried  us  all  to  Bordentown,  to  live.  Father  was 
then  suffering  in  one  of  the  most  violent  fits  he  ever  had. 
He  was  entirely  out  of  his  mind,  and  often  dangerously 
violent.  The  grief  and  fear  we  were  all  in  was  truly 
melancholy  and  pitiable.  Mother  and  brother  kept 
him  home  with  us  as  long  as  they  dare.  It  would  often 
take  four  men  to  hold  him  ;  but*dear  brother  was  the  oiie 
who  had  the  most  power  over  him.  He  used  to  call  brother 
Mr.  Seventeen,  and  seemed  strangely  puzzled  and  amazed 
at  his  trying  to  control  him.  We  poor  children  would 
run  away  and  hide  ourselves,  in  different  places,  for  fear  ; 
but  mother  and  brother  stayed  with  him,  dangerous  as 
he  was,  unflinchingly.  It  nearly  broke  their  hearts  but 
they  would  not  leave  him  to  strangers.  Whilst  we  lived 
at  Bordentown,  however,  these  violent  fits  grew  so  fre- 
quent, that  brother,  who  had  his  school  to  attend  to,  and 
must  be  away  from  the  house,  found  that  he  did  not 
dare  any  longer  to  expose  mother  and  her  young  chil- 
dren to  the  danger  of  being  alone  with  him.  At  last, 
therefore,  taking  some  persons  with  him  to  assist,  he 
went  to  Philadelphia,  in  the  packet,  to  try  and  get  him 
into  the  hospital,  until  the  disease  was  either  cured,  or 
grew  mild  enough  for  us  to  dare  to  have  him  home  with 
us  again.  Brother  had  never  been  in  Philadelphia 
before,  and  knew  no  one  there.  He  had  gone  there 
thinking  that  the  hospital  was  a  free  institution.  They 
had  a  great  deal  of  trouble  in  getting  our  poor  mad 
father  to  the  hospital,  and  when  they  did  get  him  there, 
the  people  of  the  place  would  not  receive  him.  He  was 
not  a  citizen  of  the  State  of  Pennsylvania,  but  of  New  Jer- 


40  LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON    CONE. 

sey,  where  lie  lived,  or  Connecticut,  where  he  was  born, 
and  the  rules  of  the  institution  forbade  them  receiving  cit- 
izens of  another  State  without  having  ample  security  for 
their  maintenance.  Poor  brother  could  give  no  security, 
for  no  one  knew  him  there  ;  so  they  had  to  take  father 
back  to  the  boat,  and  leave  him  there  to  the  care  of  the 
men,  whilst  he  went  and  hunted  for  the  principal  officer 
of  the  institution.  He  described,  when  he  came  home, 
what  he  had  gone  through  and  the  scene  at  the  gentle- 
man's house,  and  I  remember  well  how  bitterly  we  all 
wept  to  hear  him.  He  rang  at  the  door  of  the  chief 
officer's  house,  and  a  beautiful  girl,  his  daughter,  came  to 
the  door  and  let  him  in.  It  was  on  a  Sunday.  She 
conducted  him  into  a  parlor.  There  was  a  table  in  the 
middle  of  the  room,  and  a  noble,  benevolent-looking  man 
sat  by  it,  with  a  large  Bible  before  him,  reading  intently. 
I  knew  his  name  once,  but  it  is  so  long  ago  now  that  it 
is  gone  from  me.  Brother  went  up  and  stood  before 
him,  and  told  him  his  sad  story,  and  that  he  was  a  boy, 
and  had  no  one  in  the  world  to  stand  for  him,  or  be  his 
security.  The  old  man  heard  him  through,  and  then 
looking  benignly  in  the  poor  boy's  eyes,  said,  "  My  son, 
thy  face  is  thy  security  :  I  will  stand  for  thee.  Thy 
father  shall  go  in.'  Afterwards  father  had  many 
intervals  of  sanity,  or  quiet — and  was  out  and  in  the 
institution  for  ten  years  as  his  health  permitted." 


LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE.  41 


CHAPTER  IV. 

YOUTH. 

And  so,  with  poverty  for  a  daily  companion,  and  many 
months  to  fill  out  of  the  scant  pittance  which  divided  it 
from  starvation,  he  commenced  his  real  experiences 
of  life.  Many,  perhaps  it  would  not  be  going  too  far 
to  say  most,  minds  become  either  callous  or  morbid  under 
the  pressure  of  such  early  trials — they  lose  their  elasti- 
city ;  whatever  is  generous  and  delicate,  all  its  brighter 
tints  fade  little  by  little,  and  the  whole  mind  and  char- 
acter takes  the  dull,  cold  hue  of  a  November  fortune. 
Happily  for  him,  God  had  bestowed  on  him  such  a 
hopeful  mind,  so  much  animal  spirits,  and  above  all 
such  a  capacity  for  finding  consolation  in  work — the  great 
consoler,  that  whilst  the  difficulties  which  beset  him 
tempered  his  character  with  precocious  firmness  and  assu- 
rance, it  left  heart  and  mind  as  kind,  and  open,  and 
playful  as  ever.  Like  the  traveller  who  toils  wearily 
amongst  the  mountains,  he  was  often  fatigued,  worn  out, 
and  glad  to  lie  down  and  sleep  in  any  hut  by  the  way- 
side, but  awoke  in  the  morning  healthier  for  his  labor, 
and  better  braced  by  the  keen  wind,  and  rough  ascents, 
for  renewed  effort. 

His  engagement  in  the  Princeton  Academy  afforded 
the  means  of  a  bare  subsistence,  and  that  of  a  very  poor 
and  meagre  kind.  In  the  intervals  of  duty  he  accord- 
ingly looked  anxiously  about  him  for  something  better, 
and,  happily,  many  months  did  not  pass  before  Provi- 
dence opened  the  door  of  hope  a  little  wider. 


42  LIFE   OF    SPENCER   HOUGHTON'   CONE. 

A  master  was  needed  for  the  school  at  Burlington. 
Young  as  he  was  he  had  already  obtained  a  reputation 
for  capacity  to  teach.  His  steadiness,  close  application, 
and  scrupulous  discharge  of  duty,  added  to  this  qualifi- 
cation, overweighed  his  youth,  and  he  was  offered  the 
charge  of  the  district  school  at  that  place.  He  accepted 
it  joyfully.  It  was  indeed  a  great  advance  for  him,  both 
in  position  and  emolument. 

Each  of  the  richer  sort  in  the  district,  at  that  time, 
rook  turns  in  having  the  "  master"  at  their  houses ;  and 
so  he  was  "  billeted,"  first  on  one  and.  then  upon  another, 
by  the  week  or  month  as  the  case  might  be.  The  same 
habit  prevails  still  in  remote  and  thinly  populated  dis- 
tricts. This  relieved  him  at  once  of  a  great  charge. 
His  board  cost  him  nothing;  his  salary  was  quite 
doubled,  and  he  was  free  to  apply  the  whole  of  it  to  the 
support  of  his  family.  The  place,  too,  was  perhaps  as 
pleasant  a  one  as  could  be  found  for  the  discharge  of 
his  duties. 

Burlington  county  is  one  of  the  most  productive  and 
wealthiest  in  the  State.  Principally  inhabited  by  Quakers, 
or  the  descendants  of  Quakers,  hospitality  and  good  living 
abound.  They  live  in  fact  upon  the  fat  of  the  land,  and 
are  a  lively,  worldly,  thrifty  race,  delighting  in  fat  cat- 
tle, fine  horses,  and  social  merry-makings.  Very  little 
of  the  Quaker  sternness  remains.  Plainness  in  dress,  and 
some  peculiar  forms  of  speech,  are  about  all  that  is  left 
of  the  peculiarities  Avhich  exposed  the  "  people  called 
Quakers  "  to  so  much  persecution  for  conscience  sake 
during  their  earlier  history. 

Spencer's  lively  manners  and  high  spirits,  added  to 
an  agreeable  person,  very  soon  made  him  an  universal 
favorite.  Fortunately,  too,  for  him,  he  had  got  his 
growth,  and  when  not  quite  sixteen  had  developed  into 
a  precocious  manhood  ;  and  although  the  majority  of  his 


LIFE    OF    SPENCER    HOUGHTON   CONE.  43 

pupils  wore  older  than  himself.,  he  secured  their  obe- 
dience and  esteem.  It  required,  however,  all  the  exer- 
tion of  his  fortitude  to  resist  the  influences  with  which 
he  was  surrounded,  and  make  his  duty  the  first  thing 
always  in  his  thoughts;  for  he  Mas  so  much  in  favor 
with  the  whole  neighborhood  that  no  party  of  pleasure, 
tea-drinking,  nor  dance  was  perfect  without  him.  Out 
of  this  flattery,  so  seductive  to  a  very  young  man,  he 
came,  however,  pretty  safely. 

Amongst  his  scholars  was  George  Wood,  long  one  of 
our  most  celebrated  counsel  in  this  State,  whom  he  pre- 
pared for  College. 

He  always  recollected  with  pleasure  that  passage  in 
his  teacher's  life,  and  was  accustomed  to  say  that  he  had 
passed  as  many  agreeable  hours  in  the  little  stone  school 
house  at  Burlington,  as  in  any  other  place  he  could  call 
to  mind. 

At  that  time  Dr.  Abercrombie  was  principal  of  the 
High  School  or  chief  Academy  in  Philadelphia.  An 
acquaintance  had  subsisted  between  them  for  some  time, 
and  such  was  the  doctor's  partiality  for  Spencer,  that  spite 
of  his  youth,  he  insisted  upon  his  undertaking  the  second 
place,  or  assistant  to  the  principal,  in  his  academy.  The 
offer  was  too  flattering  to  be  refused,  and  he  removed 
himself  and  family  to  Philadelphia.  Here  he  entered 
upon  the  discharge  of  his  duties  with  the  same  activity 
aud  earnestness  as  ever,  and  justified  the  good  doctor's 
partiality.  He  very  soon  found,  however,  that  living  in 
the  country  and  the  city  were  two  things,  and  although 
his  salary  as  a  teacher  was  much  larger,  his  family 
expenses  were  larger  still.  It  was  absolutely  necessary 
to  make  up  the  deficiency  by  some  other  work  than 
teaching.  His  predilections  were  in  favor  of  the  law, 
and  he  resolved  to  study  for  the  profession.  In  doing 
so,    however,    it    wTas    indispensable    to   combine   the 


44  LIFE   OF   SPENCEK   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

acquirement  of  legal  knowledge  with  money-making. 
He  entered  therefore  the  office  of  Mr.  Geib,  at  that  time 
a  prominent  lawyer  in  Philadelphia,  as  student  una 
copyist.  No  sooner  were  the  Latin  grammar  and  awful 
ferule  laid  aside,  and  the  glad  urchins  freed  from  the 
imprisonment  of  school,  than  he  hastened  to  the  law 
office,  and  plunged  into  Coke  and  Blackstone.  And 
when  the  daylight  failed,  instead  of  rest  or  recreation,  he 
commenced  his  employment  as  copyist,  taking  the  draft 
Lome  from  the  office,  and  constantly  writing  until  one 
and  two  o'clock  at  night. 

As  might  readily  be  expected,  no  frame  however 
strong,  nor  health  however  rugged,  could  long  endure 
such  uninterrupted  labor,  and  the  sedentary  nature  of 
his  various  employments  began,  after  a  while,  to  tell 
threateningly  upon  his  constitution.  He  lost  his  fresh, 
country  complexion  ;  his  appetite  failed,  and  frequent 
pain  in  the  breast  threatened  him  with  serious  conse- 
quences. 

Nothing,  however,  could  divert  him  from  the  prose- 
cution of  his  plan  of  life,  nor  from  the  effort  to  make 
both  ends  meet  by  added  labor  ;  and  he  toiled  on,  and 
hoped  on,  in  spite  of  weariness  and  pain. 

During  his  school-life,  whether  as  scholar  or  student, 
he  was  remarkable  for  his  proficiency  in  two  branches 
of  English  education — geography  and  mathematics. 
The  latter  he  never  cultivated  much  in  after  life, 
although  his  capacity  for  making  rapid  and  accurate 
mental  calculations,  and  for  the  disentangling  of  mathe- 
matical puzzles,  continued  to  old  age,  and  its  exercise 
always  gave  him  pleasure.  But  in  geography  his 
attainments  were  remarkable  throughout  life.  The 
acquirements  of  youth  were  not  only  not  lost  by  lapse 
of  years,  but  they  were  yearly — almost,  indeed,  daily, 
increased.     He  often  related  that,  when   at  school,  he 


LITE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE.  45 

could  give,  on  the  instant,  the  boundaries  of  all  the 
counties  in  Ireland,  the  departments  of  France,  and  the 
provinces  of  India. 

The  deep  and  untiring  interest  he  always  took,  as  a 
Christian,  in  every  missionary  effort  throughout  the 
world,  led  him  to  complete  his  studies  in  this  favorite 
branch.  It  formed  a  striking  feature  in  his  addresses 
and  sermons  on  this  part  of  Christan  philanthropy  ;  and 
his  accurate  and  ready  knowledge  of  the  countries 
which  his  topic  had  to  do  with,  their  climate,  bounda- 
ries, rivers,  productions,  and  physical  and  moral  charac- 
teristics, enabled  him  to  interest  an  audience  directly  in 
them.  He  seemed  rather  to  be  talking  of  places  he  had 
seen  and  lived  in,  than  of  countries  thousands  of  miles 
away,  and  rarely  explored  except  by  adventurous 
travellers.  His  graphic  descriptions  of  the  rivers  on 
which  Judson,  or  Boardman,  or  Carey  floated  beneath 
the  burning  sun  of  India  ;  of  the  mountains  they  crossed, 
and  where  the  paths  led  over  them  ;  of  the  towns  and 
villages,  and  fields  of  paddy  on  their  banks — of  the  zayats, 
where  they  preached  the  glad  tidings  of  salvation  for 
sinners  to  the  heathen — always  arrested  the  attention  of 
his  audience,  and  won  their  ears,  at  least,  to  the  cause 
he  pleaded  for. 

He  took  his  audience  with  him  to  the  very  place  he 
was  describing,  and  surrounding  them  with  all  its 
peculiar  accessories,  compelled  them  to  listen,  as  it  were, 
rather  to  the  missionary  himself,  and  read  the  record  of 
his  mission  in  the  keen  eye  of  the  watchful  Brahmin — the 
cunning  incredulity  of  the  boatman  of  the  Ganges,  or  the 
Irrawaddy  ;  the  gentle  hope  first  lighting  up  some  sin- 
gle convert's  face  ;  the  rapt  attention  of  all — than  to 
himself.  It  could  not  be  art,  although  it  had  the 
effect  of  the  highest  art — it  was  more  than  art — it  was 
a  pure  inspiration  of  the  missionary  spirit,  the  love  of 


46  LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

souls  warming  every  sentence,  and  throwing  a  halo 
around  every  period. 

His  health  at  last  warning  him  that  he  could  not 
continue  to  combine  the  avocations  of  a  teacher,  law- 
student,  and  copyist  much  longer,  without  peril  of  his 
life,  he  had  recourse  to  the  advice  of  his  friends,  to  con- 
firm him  in  what  he  should  do.  Many  advised,  and 
talked,  and  sympathized,  as  men  commonly  do,  to  no 
practical  purpose.  The  majority,  indeed,  gave  then, 
as  they  do  now,  very  vise  advice,  and  no  help  ;  being 
very  ready  to  say,  do  this,  or  do  that,  but  making  no 
offer  to  show  how  either  this  or  that  were  to  be  begun. 

In  this  conjuncture  the  more  practical  advice  of  an  Epis- 
copal bishop  determined  his  course  of  action.  Waiting 
upon  this  gentleman,  who  had,  on  many  former  occa- 
sions, evinced  a  lively  interest  in  his  success,  he  besought 
him  to  counsel  him.  The  good  bishop,  after  expatiating 
upon  the  singular  advantages  bestowed  on  him  by 
nature,  advised  him  to  take  orders  in  the  Episcopal 
Church  ;  offering,  in  the  warmest  and  most  generous 
manner,  if  he  would  do  so,  to  provide  for  him,  and 
see  that  he  was  entirely  supported  whilst  studying 
for  the  profession.  Kor  did  he  fail  to  lay  before  him 
all  the  advantages  which  would  accrue  to  himself  and 
family  from  an  acceptance  of  the  offer  :  position,  ease, 
influence,  reputation — ultimately,  no  doubt,  the  highest 
honors  in  the  church.  It  was  a  tempting  offer  for  a 
young  and  needy  man,  conscious  of  ability,  and  chafing 
at  a  world  which  gave  him  no  chance  for  its  exercise. 
But  the  Baptist  leaven  was  too  strong  in  him.  He 
knew  too  well  that  the  ministry  of  the  Word  of  life  is 
the  gift  of  God,  and  not  of  man.  He  had,  even  then, 
too  frank  and  honest  a  reverence  for  holy  things  to  tam- 
per with  them  uncalled  of  God,  and  he  modestly  but 
firmly  rejected  the  proposition.     The  good  bishop  then 


LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOEGHTON    COXE.  47 

told  him,  if  lie  would  not  take  orders,  lie  knew  of  bnt 
one  thing  he  could  do  to  immediate  advantage,  and  fur 
which  his  remarkable  voice  and  other  physical  advan- 
tages eminently  fitted  him — and  that  was — to  go  on  the 
stage.  He  took  the  well-meant  but  dangerous  advice, 
and  became  an  actor. 

lie  made  his  first  appearance  in  July  1805,  as  Acltmet, 
in  the  tragedy  of  Mahomet,  and  attracted  immediate 
attention.  The  old  Chesnut  street  Theatre,  in  Philadel- 
phia, was  then  at  the  zenith  of  its  glory,  and  the  company 
a  strong  and  talented  one.  Wood,  Wignall,  Jefferson, 
Francis,  Blissett ; — Mesdames,  Wood,  Duff,  and  many 
others  renowned  in  theatric  story,  were  upon  the 
boards,  and  the  best  evidence  of  Spencer's  talent  is  to  be 
found  in  the  fact  that  he  took  immediate  rank,  and  won 
immediate  popularity,  although  a  mere  boy,  and  with 
all  the  odds  of  experience  and  established  favor  against 
him. 

In  answer  to  any  objections  that  have  been,  or  may 
be  urged  against  this  step,  by  those  who  never  knew 
what  it  was  to  be  poor,  but  "  more  proud  than  poor,  and 
more  honest  than  proud;"  who  never  went  through  the 
sharp  struggle  for  the  means  of  a  respectable  livelihood 
and  the  support  of  a  beloved  and  helpless  family — he 
shall  answer  for  himself.  In  a  letter  written  during  the 
fall  of  1810,  he  says: — "In  a  moment  of  desperation  I 
adopted  the  profession  of  an  actor.  It  was  inimical  to 
the  wishes  of  my  mother:  It  was  in  direct  opposition  to 
my  own  feelings  and  principles  ;  but  it  was  the  only 
way  by  which  I  had  a  hope  of  extricating  myself  from 
my  pecuniary  embarrassments,  and  much  as  the  world 
has  condemned  me  for  the  step,  I  never  have  repented 
taking  it.  It  has  answered  the  end  proposed.  We  have 
lived  comfortably.  I  see  my  brother  and  sisters  as  well 
educated  as  their   standing  in  society  demands ;  and  if 


48  LITE    OF   SPENCEK   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

no  unforeseen  misfortune  awaits  me,  I  shall,  by  next 
spring,  have  some  little  beforehand.     ***** 

"  You  know  me  as  I  really  am.  You  have  taken  the 
trouble  to  judge  of  me,  not  from  circumstances  or  report, 
but  from  my  general  conduct  and  principles.  You  see, 
no  doubt,  much  to  blame,  and  some  little  perhaps  to 
praise.  Filial  duty  and  brotherly  love  have  formed  my 
rules  of  action.  I  have  too  often  swerved  from  their 
principles,  but  I  trust  they  have  for  the  most  part 
directed  my  course  through  life,  and  the  sincere  affec- 
tion of  my  mother  and  sisters  more  than  repays  me  for 
an  age  of  suffering." 

This  was  written  on  his  return  from  the  theatre  in 
the  evening — written  whilst  exercising  the  profession 
to  which  it  refers.  It  has  the  merit  therefore  of  pre- 
senting a  true  picture  of  his  mind  at  that  period.  It 
shows  with  what  eyes  he  looked  upon  his  calling ; 
frankly  confessing  it  was  distasteful  to  him,  and  as 
frankly  urging  the  reasons  which  rose  superior  to  his 
inclination  and  constrained  his  conduct. 

Ambitious  of  distinction  in  whatever  he  undertook, 
he  was  a  hard  student  in  his  profession.  He  read 
much,  and  assiduously  ;  formed  his  style  upon  the  best 
models,  and  gladly  accepted  instruction.  His  tempera- 
ment, physical  quickness  and  versatility  of  mind,  inclined 
him  to  the  Garrick  school,  and  he  copied  the  style  of  that 
great  master  as  closely  as  his  genius  enabled  him.  The 
effect  of  this  was  always  evident  in  him.  In  a  different 
and  nobler  walk  in  life,  he  lost  all  the  characteristics  of 
the  mere  actor  in  the  unfeigned  passion  and  vehement 
force  of  the  orator.  But  the  grace  and  majesty  of  the 
Garrick  school ;  its  pantomimic  adaptation  of  the  "word 
to  the  action,  the  action  to  the  word,  with  the  special 
observance  of  never  overstepping  the  modesty  of 
nature ;"    its  lightning   like   transitions  from  touching 


LIFE   OF   SPENCER    HOUGHTON   CONE.  49 

pathos  to  fiery  invective ;  its  rapid  play  of  feature, 
delineating  to  the  eye  every  changing  passion  as  it 
moved  the  speaker's  soul ;  its  infinite  variety  of  delicate 
and  subtle  strokes  and  touches,  developing  an  undis- 
covered beauty  in  the  plainest  and  most  commonplace 
expressions — all  these  remained,  and  grew  year  by  year 
— giving  a  character  to  his  oratory  so  peculiar  and  com- 
manding, that  the  mere  report  of  his  spoken  words,  as 
taken  down  by  phonography,  affords  no  better  impres- 
sion of  its  power  and  effect,  than  a  description  of 
colors  to  a  man  born  blind.  Off  the  stage  he 
associated  but  little  with  the  profession.  The  house  of 
Mrs.  Warren,  the  Siddons  of  the  American  stage,  was 
the  only  one  at  which  he  visited.  A  woman  of  high 
social  standing,  refined  manners,  and  great  ability,  her 
receptions  were  graced  by  the  best  talent,  and  most 
distinguished  people  of  the  time.  Lawyers,  poets, 
soldiers,  and  artists,  formed  around  her  a  society 
celebrated  for  the  purity  of  its  tone,  and  the  wit  and 
agreeability  of  its  character.  He  always  spoke  of  her  as 
a  woman  fitted  to  adorn  any  station  in  society.  A  more 
instructive  and  scarcely  less  brilliant  coterie  gathered 
constantly  at  his  mother's  house,  when  fortune  began  to 
smile  on  them,  and  the  efforts  of  her  son  placed  her  in 
a  position  to  receive  and  entertain  the  world  of  wit  and 
letters.  Her  son's  public  position  and  popularity 
gathered,  as  it  always  does,  the  crowd  of  popularity- 
worshippers  around  him,  and  her  firm  and  penetrating 
mind  rapidly  culled  from  amongst  it  such  as  were  most 
congenial  to  its  elevated  instincts.  She  possessed 
besides  peculiar  powers  of  amusement  and  attraction. 
Her  reading  was  large  and  varied,  and  especially  on 
historical  subjects  she  was  replete  with  information. 
His  sister  says  : — 

"  Dear  mother  was  a  woman  of  great  gifts  and  won- 

3 


50  LIFE    OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

derful  acumen  "by  nature.  When  we  were  children, 
and,  of  course,  very  ignorant,  we  would  be  constantly 
asking  her  questions.  She  could  always  tell  us  what 
we  wanted  to  know.  It  was  so  still  when  we  grew 
older,  and  got  more  sense,  and  knew  more  ourselves. 
So  that  at  last  we  concluded  she  was  fairly  an  Encyclope- 
dia of  useful  knowledge.  She  was  cheerful,  and  always 
mild,  and  meek,  and  patient.  Her  nature  was  exqui- 
sitely tender,  and  yet  she  had  the  fortitude  of  a  soldier. 
She  sang  sweetly,  and  conversed  with  ease  and  brilliancy. 
She  was  very  pious.  Her  sensibility  and  sudden  sense 
of  right  never  made  her  severe,  for  she  possessed  melting 
charity ;  she  had  a  clear  head,  and  a  sound  judgment. 
She  was  almost  always  sick.  I  scarcely  remember  to 
have  seen  her  well.  But  when  suffering  the  most  we 
would  say  to  her,  '  Dear  mother,  that  was  hard.'  She 
would  reply,  '  Oh  no  ! — others  suffer  ;  why  should  I  be 
exempt  V  And  in  strict  truth  I  never  heard  her  complain. 
Only  just  think  of  it — twelve  or  fifteen  years  of  constant 
suffering,  and  not  a  peevish  word.  *  *  *  *  We  were 
all  brought  up  to  observe  the  Sabbath  as  strictly  as  they 
do  in  Puritan  New  England.  When  father  was  well  in 
his  mind  we  always  had  family  worship  night  and 
morning.  But,  you  know  poor  father  was  often  melan- 
choly and  out  of  his  right  mind,  and  then  that  good 
mother  had  to  use  all  the  qualities  I  have  told  you  of. 
But  she  was  a  host  in  herself.  We  delighted  in  her. 
We  all  looked  up  to  her.  She  was  our  everything. 
She  never  shone  brighter  than  in  adversity  ;  and,  by  the 
way,  that  was  the  school  we  were  brought  up  in.  We 
did  not  get  the  first  honors  as  our  mother  and  brother 
Spencer  did,  but  we  studied  hard  in  it.  Brother  Spencer 
was  always  a  good  boy — I  used  to  think  he  was  so  good ; 
he  was  just  such  a  boy  as  Washington." 

This  letter  is  written  by  a  woman  who  has  reached 


LIFE    OF   SPENCEB   HOUGHTON   CONE.  51 

the  allotted  term  of  human  life— three  score  years  and 
ten — but  it  has  a  dash  of  the  family  character  about  it, 
and  shows  that  Spencer  did  not  by  any  means  monopo- 
lize all  the  ability  or  talent  of  the  stock,  although  he 
got  the  "  first  honors"  in  the  school  where  they  were 
educated.  The  natural  partiality  of  a  sister  is  displayed 
in  a  strong  comparison  ;  but  it  is  every  way  excusable. 
It  is  not  strange  that  a  sister  should  speak  warmly  of 
one  who  seldom  failed  to  plant  a  strong  and  durable 
affection  in  the  hearts  of  all  who  knew  him. 

From  1805  to  1810  he  devoted  himself  assiduously  to 
the  study  of  his  profession,  playing  principally  in  Phila- 
delphia, Baltimore,  and  Alexandria.  At  that  time  he 
was  almost  the  only  American  on  the  stage,  and  this 
circumstance,  added  to  his  own  intrinsic  merits,  drew 
around  him  a  staunch  circle  of  admirers.  It  was  not 
the  fashion  of  that  day  for  a  man  to  claim  much  merit 
for  being  an  American.  The  fact  of  his  being  so  was 
rather  considered  as  imposing  larger  duties,  than  as 
conferring  superior  claims  upon  public  favor.  It  had, 
however,  undoubtedly  great  weight  in  the  minds  of  the 
young  and  ardent  admirers  of  the  drama,  and  gave  him 
evidently  a  warm  place  in  their  hearts.  A  writer  of  thea- 
trical chronicles  glances  at  a  circumstance  which  occur- 
red about  the  middle  of  his  stage  life,  strongly  illustra- 
tive of  his  popularity : 

"The  theatrical  life  of  Mr.  Cone  was  not  altogether 
free  from  turmoil ;  and  on  one  occasion  he  was  the 
cause,  innocently  perhaps,  of  an  emeute,  which  in  ferocity 
and  violence  was  not  much  excelled  by  the  scene  at 
Astor  Place  Opera  House,  originating  in  the  quarrels 
between  Forrest  and  Macready." 

He  was  undoubtedly  innocent  of  any  intention  or  act 
of  violence ;  and  was  at  a  distance  from  the  theatre, 
and  ignorant  of  the  danger  to  public  tranquillity,  when 


52  LIFE   OF   SPENCER    HOUGHTON   CONE. 

summoned  by  a  breathless  messenger,  and  besought  to 
hasten  there,  as  his  presence  alone  could  be  relied  on  to 
calm  the  popular  irritation.  He  obeyed,  the  summons, 
rushed  to  the  theatre,  and  in  five  minutes  had  gained,  as 
lie  knew  so  well  how  to  do,  entire  control  of  the  crowd. 
A  dozen  sentences  of  his  passionate  eloquence  appealing 
to  them  as  American  citizens  to  respect  the  public 
peace,  to  respect  him,  and.  to  respect  themselves  too 
much  to  sully  the  name  of  either  by  acts  of  violence — 
restored  comparative  order,  and  checked  at  once  a  scene 
which  might  have  had  the  most  disastrous  results  both 
for  property  and  life. 

The  reason  of  this  threatening  exhibition  of  popular 
feeling  was  that  another  actor,  not  a  Philadelphia!!,  it  is 
believed,  had  interfered,  with  Spencer  H.,  and  appropria- 
ted one  of  his  peculiar  "parts,"  and  one  secured,  to  him 
by  the  articles  of  his  engagement.  Spencer  H.  was  an 
American,  admired  as  an  actor,  and  beloved  as  an  out- 
spoken patriot  and  citizen  by  every  Philadelphian. 
Hence  they  would  not  endure  for  an  instant  that  their 
fellow-countryman  and  favorite  should  even  appear  to 
be  subordinated  to,  or  imposed  upon  by  a  stranger. 
The  public  sentiment  was  so  marked,  and  its  determi- 
nation so  unmistakable,  that  the  manager  agreed  to  refer 
it  to  two  distinguished  gentlemen  of  Philadelphia,  who 
decided  that  Mr.  Cone  was  entitled  to  the  part.  The 
manager  yielded  gracefully  and  at  once,  and  Spencer  H. 
took  the  position  secured  to  him  by  the  articles  of  his 
engagement. 

His  very  success,  however,  was  repulsive  to  his  feel- 
ings. He  was  mortified  even  by  triumph,  and  felt 
humiliated  at  being  in  a  position  where  his  very  virtues, 
and  claims  upon  the  love  and  friendship  of  his  fellow- 
citizens,  might  be  turned  into  material  to  inflame  their 
passions,  and  produce  acts  of  lawless  violence. 


LIFE   OF   SPENCEK   HOrGHTON    CONE.  53 

It  was  from  that  occasion,  which  on  a  less  just  and 
well-balanced  mind,  would  have  produced  an  entirely 
opposite  effect,  and  aroused  sentiments  of  vanity  and 
overweening  confidence,  that  his  disgust  for  the  stage 
begun  to  date.  He  has  oflen  said  that  the  train  of  rea- 
soning it  gave  rise  to  in  his  mind  was  this  :  "  If,  by  the 
exercise,  merely,  of  the  power  of  simulating  the  passions 
of  courage,  love,  virtue,  and  whatever  else  it  is  the  pro- 
vince of  tragedy  or  comedy  to  exhibit  in  the  most 
heroic  shape?  I  have  obtained  such  power  over  the  affec- 
tions of  any  portion  of  my  fellow-men,  as  to  make  them 
willing  to  endanger  their  lives  and  reputations  in  my 
defence — winning  them  by  "a  fiction  and  a  dream  of 
passion ;"  how  much  nobler  and  more  worthy  of  an 
American  it  would  be  to  live  the  reality  of  heroic  vir- 
tues— to  act  instead  of  mimicking  the  deeds  of  greatness. 
I  will  be  a  living  worker  in  the  world — I  will  play  no 
more." 

From  that  moment,  although  years  passed  before  he 
could  realize  his  wishes,  his  most  anxious  desire  and 
effort  was  to  strike  into  some  path  which  lay  among  the 
realities  of  life,  and  where  usefulness  and  honor  might 
be  his  companions. 

This  determination  was  strengthened,  too,  by  a  cir- 
cumstance which  occurred  about  the  same  time.  He 
made  accidentally  the  acquaintance  of  the  woman  des- 
tined by  Providence  to  be  his  wife,  and  such  a  wife  as 
few  great  men  have  ever  had  to  support,  inspirit,  sustain, 
and  console  them  through  their  struggles — for  all  great- 
ness implies  a  constant  struggle  against  a  thousand 
enemies.  In  the  Christian  warfare,  it  implies  it  above 
all — a  struggle  against  foes  within  and  foes  without — a 
tempting  devil,  and  a  deceitful  human  heart  —  the 
world,  the  flesh,  and  Satan,  all  combining,  to  strike  the 
bravest  soldier  of  the  Cross  down  into  the  mire  and  filth 


54  LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

of  their  own  corruption  and  hatred  to  God  and  to  his 
work.  God  blessed  him  in  nothing  more  signally  than 
in  bestowing  upon  him  a  wife  brave,  earnest,  simple- 
hearted,  and  clear-headed ;  always  wrapped  np  in  her 
husband  and  his  happiness ;  seeing,  with  constant 
anxiety,  but  also  with  constant  joy,  how  he  had  his 
Master's  work  to  do,  and  so  devoting  herself  to  make 
his  home  a  place  of  rest  and  strengthening  for  him  in 
the  pauses  of  the  battle.  She  was  like  a  ministering 
angel,  always  beside  him  to  console  in  disappointment, 
to  animate  for  renewed  effort.  How  strangely  she  was 
brought  to  this,  her  history  will  show. 

In  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  in  the  year  1S10,  there 
dwelt  a  widow,  whose  name  was  Mary  Morrell,  the 
widow  of  Robert  Morrell,  a  man  of  wealth,  and  one  of 
the  earnest  spirits  of  his  time.  Having  served  bravely, 
in  several  vessels,  during  the  war,  and  particularly 
under  Commodore  Barron  and  Paul  Jones,  with  the 
latter  of  whom  he  was  on  board  the  "Bon  Homme 
Richard,"  at  the  celebrated  capture  of  the  "  Serapis," 
and  burning  of  Whitehaven — he  returned  to  Philadel- 
phia, and  died  shortly  after  the  close  of  the  war,  leaving 
his  family  a  good  estate.  The  bad  management  of  his 
trustees  and  executors  finally  dissipated  the  greater  part 
of  the  property,  but  at  the  time  of  Mr.  Morrell's  death 
he  was  esteemed  one  of  the  wealthy  men  of  Philadelphia. 

Mrs.  Morrell  had  four  daughters,  Elizabeth,  Hannah, 
Sally,  and  Maria,  and  one  son,  Robert.  The  latter  died 
when  very  young.  The  widow's  only  brother,  Chandler 
Price,  was  an  eminent  merchant,  and  a  man,  not  only 
reputed  rich,  but  really  so.  Living  in  the  same  place 
with  his  sister,  who  was  tenderly  attached  to  him,  he 
was  much  looked  up  to  by  her  and  by  her  children.  He 
had,  indeed,  the  main  control  of  her  property  and  busi- 
ness, and  his  recommendations  were  always  acted  upon. 


LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE.  55 

In  the  course  of  time,  as  Sally  was  growing  into  woman- 
hood, she,  being  a  great  favorite  with  her  uncle,  went 
to  live  in  his  house. 

It  was  a  gay  house,  and  always  full  of  company.  Its 
owner,  opulent  and  hospitable,  of  lively  manners  and 
large  information,  gathered  constantly  there  a  numerous 
and  brilliant  society. 

In  the  incessant  round  of  dinner-parties,  balls,  and 
fetes,  of  which  her  home  was  now  the  centre,  how  little 
did  the  young  girl  dream  of  the  future  which  Provi- 
dence had  in  store  for  her.  The  spoiled  child  of  fortune 
— the  flattered  beauty  of  a  worldly  and  pleasure-seeking 
crowd,  could  hardly  conceive  the  path  her  Master  had 
marked  out  for  her.  She,  the  dashing,  fashionable  girl, 
educated  to  look  upon  the  world  as  a  great  scene  of 
elegant  amusement,  and  social  contest  for  place  and 
powder,  pampered  in  every  taste,  and  gratified  in  every 
wish,  to  become  the  wife  of  a  Baptist  preacher!  The 
idea  would  have  appeared  a  monstrous  one — almost, 
indeed,  altogether  an  insult.  What !  hear  no  praise — 
receive  no  homage — conquer  no  rivals?  Bound  her 
pleasures  by  the  limits  of  a  parsonage ;  restrict  her  em- 
ployments to  the  bare  discharge  of  duties ;  forget  the 
world  of  fashion,  in  which  she  had  occupied  so  notable 
a  place,  even  more  entirely  than  its  giddy  inhabitants 
would  forget  her  ? — and  all  this  to  be  a  poor,  plain  Bap- 
tist preacher's  wife  !  She  has  often  smiled  over  the  odd 
kind  of  terror  she  afterwards  experienced  at  the  idea. 
She  had  never  heard  the  sect  named ;  never  even 
reviled,  although  it  was  then,  as  now,  "  a  sect  every- 
where spokeu  against."  She  went  to  church  on  Sun- 
day morning.  It  was  rather  fashionable  than  otherwise. 
Indeed,  as  one  of  the  women  of  her  family  had,  in 
earlier  times,  endowed  schools  and  churches  in  Phila- 
delphia with  lands  and  livings,  it  was  thought  necessary 


56  LIFE   OF   SPENCEE   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

and  proper  that  somebody  from  the  family  should  be 
seen  in  the  old  pew  in  Christ  Church — especially  if  the 
weather  was  fine.  But  of  true  religion,  of  vital  godli- 
ness, she  had  no  idea. 

At  their  first  acquaintance,  too,  there  was  still 
less  to  shadow  out  the  future.  She,  a  proud  woman 
of  fashion ;  he,  a  gay  and  dashing  actor — young, 
beautiful,  admired,  both  of  them.  They  met  at  the 
theatre,  in  the  public  ball-room,  on  the  race-course. 
"Not  in  society,  for  their  circles  were  different.  Fasci- 
nated by  his  beauty  and  talents,  the  woman's  heart 
broke  through  all  the  barriers  of  her  exclusive  life  of 
society,  and  whilst  she  was  pleasing  herself  with  the 
idea  that  she  was  only  admiring  genius,  and  giving  it 
its  due  by  admitting  it  to  closer  converse  than  its  line 
of  exhibition  could  conventionally  entitle  it  to — she 
was,  in  sober  reality,  rapidly  coming  to  love  the  man. 

Her  uncle  penetrated  the  heart  of  her  mystery  even 
"before  herself,  and  indignantly  scouted  at  the  idea  of 
such  an  intimacy.  Spencer  was  to  be  avoided.  She 
must  not  see  him,  speak  to  him,  think  of  him.  It  was  a 
terrible  blow  to  his  pride — and  as  to  the  idea  of  her 
ever  marrying  him — that  was  preposterous.  So  her 
good  uncle  set  very  busily  to  work  to  prevent  the  two 
from  ever  meeting ;  which  was,  of  course,  the  cause  of 
their  meeting  twice  as  often  as  formerly.  He  told  her 
all  kinds  of  hard  things  about  poor  Spencer  H.,  which 
made  her  defend  him  heroically,  and  believe  in  him 
twice  as  firmly  as  before.  For  we  all  know  how  much 
more  we  love  those  for  whom  we  suffer,  than  those  who 
suffer  for  us.  It  is  very  selfish,  but  very  human.  Poor 
fellow,  he  could  not  even  speak  to  her  a  moment  in 
peace,  that  uncle  watched  her  so  closely. 

In  a  little  note  of  May  25th,  1810,  he  says  : — 

"  My  sister  Eliza  will  hand  you  a  copy  of  D'Israeli's 


LIFE    OF    SPEXCER   HOUGHTON    CONE.  57 

Romances.  I  purchased  it  on  purpose  to  present  it  to 
you.  But  just  as  I  was  conning  over  in  my  mind  some 
fine  speech,  that  would  be  suitable  to  the  occasion,  your 
uncle,  very  ill-naturedly,  surprised  us  at  the  stone  step, 
in  Front  street.  So  I  was,  of  course,  compelled  to  return 
the  book  to  my  pocket,  and  walk  quietly  home.  The 
romantic  love-tale  of  '  Mejnoun  and  Leila'  will  help 
you  kill  a  dull  hour  or  two.  I  am  sure  you  will  admire 
it.  It  gives  a  more  correct  picture  of  true  love  than 
any  story  I  have  met  with.  The  passion  is  carried  to 
excess,  1  admit,  but  still,  the  situations  are  so  interesting, 
and  their  misfortunes  so  pathetically  described,  that 
none  but  hearts  of  stone  could  help  sympathizing  with 
them.  I  wroto  your  name  on  the  title-page,  but  after- 
wards erased  it,  fearing  it  might  involve  you  in  some 
disagreeable  question  about  *  Who  gave  it  to  you?'  It 
seems  almost  an  age,  when  I  think  of  the  six  months  to 
come  that  I  shall  be  separated  from  you.  But  upon 
reflection,  'tis  better  so.  Were  I  in  Philadelphia,  you 
would  often,  I  fondly  hope,  honor  me  with  your  arm, 
as  we  strolled  up  Chesnut  street.  Some  good-natured 
friend  would  certainly  convey  this  useful  information  to 
your  uncle,  and  he,  in  a  rage,  would  probably  lock  you 
up,  and  deny  you  the  light  of  the  sun,  though  it  shines 
equally  upon  the  just  and  upon  the  unjust. 

"  '  Alas,  I  am  a  nameless  -wight ! 
Trod  in  the  mire  and  out  of  sight.' 

This  is  a  strange  world,  where  men  creep  about  for 
years  to  find,  at  last,  nothing  more,  perhaps,  than  dis- 
honorable graves." 

"The   course   of  true   love  never  yet  ran  smooth." 
That  terrible  uncle  ruffled  it  greatly  ;   but  God  had  too 
much  for  both  Spencer  and  Sally  to  do  in  the  world,  for 
human  pride  to  hinder  them. 
3* 


58  LIFE    OF    SPENCER    HOUGHTON   CONE. 

We  cannot  give  a  better  history  of  his  mind  and 
fortunes  at  that  time,  than  he  himself  gives  in  the  few 
letters  we  are  so  fortunate  as  to  have  found.  It  is  to  be 
regretted  that  they  are  so  few  ;  for  he  wrote,  as  he 
always  did,  just  as  he  felt,  without  effort  or  disguise. 
Speaking  of  his  Sally,  he  says  : — 

"  We,  in  common  with  the  rest  of  mankind,  are 
searching  after  happiness — it  is  our  being's  end  and  aim. 
As  free  agents,  we  have  an  undoubted  right  to  make  use 
of  whatever  means  are  honorable  to  attain,  if  possible, 
this  desirable  object.  Reason  and  judgment  were  given 
us  in  vain,  if  we  are  not  to  be  allowed  the  privilege  of 
exercising  them ;  and  even  our  hearts  are  of  no  value 
if  they  can  be  disposed  of  as  the  whim  or  caprice  of 
another  may  direct. 

"  But  we  are  young,  and  can  wait. 

"  I  shall  yet,  I  hope,  be  possessed  of  a  peaceful  home 
to  shelter  her  in — neat  if  not  splendid — where,  though 
we  may  be  deserted  by  the  votaries  of  fashion,  we  shall 
still  enjoy  the  bliss  which  flows  from  perfect  esteem  and 
s}Tinpathy  of  soul — 

"  '  Thought  meeting  thought,  and  will  preventing  will, 
With  boundless  confidence' — 

A  bliss,  in  my  opinion,  far  preferable  to  midnight  revels, 
or  the  boisterous  merriment  of  those  whose  lucky  stars, 
and  not  their  merits,  have  raised  to  the  gilded  couch  of 
affluence  and  luxury.  Happiness  does  not  depend  on 
nches :  it  is  found  alike  in  every  sphere. 

"  '  Who  finds  content  will  find  her  there ! 
'Tis  to  no  rank  of  life  confined 
But  dwells  in  every  honest  mind.' " 

It  is  observable  that  although  harshly  spoken  of,  and 
bitterly  attacked  by  all  the  malevolence  of  wounded 


LIFE    OF   Sl'ENCEK   HOUGHTON    CONE.  59 

pride,  be  never  speaks  harshly  of  others.  They  are 
endeavoring  to  disappoint  his  most  cherished  hopes  ; 
to  break  up  his  dearest  plans ;  and  yet  at  an  age  when 
men  are  rarely  very  patient,  and  when  his  mind  was 
naturally  much  embittered  by  unjust  reflections  upon 
his  profession  and  himself — a  constant  vein  of  elevated 
morality  and  calm  reasoning  pervades  everything  he 
Bays. 

Being  rallied  for  his  melancholy  and  gravity  as  a 
lover,  he  replies  : — "  True  love  is  I  think  ever  serious — 
not  light  and  frivolous.  It  warms  the  heart  with  every 
generous  principle  of  humanity,  and  kindles  in  the 
breast  the  spirit  of  universal  benevolence.  It  softens 
the  roughness  of  the  disposition ;  ameliorates  the 
unkindly  frowns  of  fortune,  and  dispels  all  selfishness 
from  the  mind.  A  passion  such  as  this  deserves  the 
cordial  embrace  of  the  man  of  honesty  and  honor,  and 
could  never  be  intended  by  the  great  author  of  our 
being  to  entail  misery  on  its  possessor." 

How  just  the  sentiments  of  the  following  extract  of  a 
letter  written  July  8th  1810,  from  Washington,  where 
he  was  then  playing — how  clearly  it  exhibits  the 
character  of  his  mind — a  character  heightened  by  the 
grace  of  God  in  after  years  to  an  earnest  faith,  but  even 
amid  all  the  seductions  of  the  society  in  which  he 
then  moved,  aided  by  the  weakness  of  an  un rege- 
nerate heart,  strong  enough  to  preserve  him,  by  God's 
blessing,  in  a  course  of  rectitude  which  "  won  golden 
opinions  from  all  sorts  of  people." 

"  Reason  and  reflection  convince  me  that  real  happi- 
ness is  the  offspring  of  virtue,  and  the  inseparable  com- 
panion of  content.  How  vain  then  to  sigh  for  the  riches 
of  Golconda — the  gold  mines  of  Peru  or  Potosi.  TVere 
they  in  our  actual  possession,  content  might  refuse  us 
the  honor  of  her  company,  and  happiness  would  con- 


60  LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

sequently  desert  us — offended  at  the  absence  of  her 
inestimable  associate.  Sufficient  for  the  day  are  the 
evils  thereof.  We  should  discard  therefore  all  unneces- 
sary solicitude  for  the  future.  With  heartfelt  pleasure, 
I  exert  every  faculty  with  which  nature  has  endowed 
me  to  procure  comfort  and  competence  for  those  who 
are  entwined  about  my  heart  by  the  strong  ties  of  con- 
sanguinity and  affection.  I  trust  confidently  that  the 
beneficent  power  which  called  me  into  existence  will 
deign  to  smile  upon  my  endeavors,  and  crown  them 
ultimately  with  success.  I  am  confident  we  were  never 
intended  for  such  wretched  desponding  creatures  as  we 
make  ourselves.  When  our  hearts  throb  in  unison  with 
the  dictates  of  love,  of  honor,  and  of  friendship,  it  is 
impious  to  say  that  we  are  not  blessed  with  a  very  large 
share  of  the  good  things  of  this  life — sufficient  indeed, 
could  we  but  prevail  on  ourselves  to  cultivate  wisdom 
and  virtue,  to  ensure  us  content  and  peace.  But,  alas. 
our  good  sense  is  too  often  blinded,  and  we  suffer  our- 
selves to  be  led  into  the  vortex  of  fashionable  folly  and 
vice,  without  consulting  our  judgments,  or  reflecting 
that  we  are  accountable  for  our  actions  to  Him  who 
made  us.  When  I  reflect  upon  my  past  life,  I  am 
almost  tempted  to  believe  implicitly  in  the  doctrine  of 
predestination  /" 

How  firmly  he  held  it  afterwards ;  how  gloriously  he 
preached  it !  The  sublime  assurance  that  the  children 
of  the  covenant  are  predestined  from  before  the  founda- 
tion of  the  world,  that  they  should  be  heirs  of  God  and 
joint  heirs  with  Jesus  Christ,  shone,  from  the  hour  of 
his  conversion,  as  a  constant  light  upon  his  path.  The 
study  of  the  Word  of  Life  fortified  it  with  argument ;  but 
the  conviction  of  its  truth  was  an  inspiration  of  the  soul. 
It  was  this  controlling,  and  absorbing  reliance  upon  the 
predestinating  love   of  God   which   animated  him   to 


LIFE    OF   SPENCER    HOUGHTON    CONE.  61 

every  effort.  How  could  a  man  who,  in  the  councils  of 
eternity,  was  foreordained  of  God  to  be  a  son — a  laborer 
in  his  vineyard — ever  dare  to  doubt  or  waver?  Once 
convinced  of  his  calling  and  election  in  Christ  Jesus, 
there  was  but  one  thing  for  him  to  say — "Here  am  1, 
Lord  !  What  wouldst  thou  have  me  to  do  ?"  And  if 
God  graciously  vouchsafed  an  answer  to  prayer,  and 
pointed  by  His  providence  to  the  path  of  duty,  flesh  and 
blood  was  not  to  be  consulted.  The  captain  of  the  Lord's 
host  gave  the  order ;  the  soldier  of  the  Cross  obeyed  it- 
careless  of  consequences.  He  left  them  with  Him  who 
knew  the  end  from  the  beginning. 

"From  the  time  that  he  heard  M'Glaughlin  preach 
on  the  balm  of  Gilead,  his  mind  had  never  been  at  rest 
on  the  subject  of  his  salvation.  By  day  and  by  night 
God  called  him  to  repentance.  At  one  time  a  frightful 
dream  would  alarm  him."— Dr.  Armitage. 

In  a  sermon  to  the  young,  in  1844,  he  thus  describes 
the  remarkable  dream  alluded  to : — 

"Blessed  with  health  and  a  great  flow  of  animal 
spirits,  God  was  not  in  all  my  thoughts;  but  though  I 
had  forgotten  Him,  He  had  not  forgotten  me;  and  He 
was  pleased  to  visit  me  in  a  dream,  which  no  changes 
of  time  or  place  can  erase  from  memory. 

"  I  seemed  to  be  falling  down  a  well,  backwards,  with 
my  face  turned  towards  the  top.  There  I  saw  one 
standing,  having  the  appearance  of  a  man.  His  face 
was  fresh  and  ruddy ;  his  eyes,  like  the  blue  sky, 
beamed  with  benevolence,  and  I  recollect  his  counte- 
nance as  distinctly  as  though  I  had  seen  it  but  yesterday. 
He  intimated  his  willingness  to  lift  me  out  of  the  well 
if  I  wished  ;  but  I  looked  to  the  sides,  and  looked  down, 
and  saw  here  and  there  projections  of  earth  and  stones, 
and  imagining  that  I  could  lay  hold  upon  these  and 
climb  up  myself,  I  declined  his  assistance.     I  now  began 


62  LIFE   OF   SPENCEK   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

to  sway  my  body  to  the  right  and  left,  and  to  make 
vigorous  efforts  to  lay  hold  upon  some  projection,  and 
thereby  arrest  my  downward  course  ;  conscious,  all  the 
while,  that  the  Being  at  the  top  of  the  well,  whether 
man  or  angel,  was  able  and  willing  to  help — but  I  was 
resolved  to  save  myself.  In  an  instant,  to  my  utter 
amazement,  the  well  immeasurably  widened,  like  the 
mouth  of  a  bell,  and  was  lost  in  the  bottomless  pit.  The 
flames  almost  touched  me  ;  my  arms  sank  lifeless  by  my 
side ;  my  strength  was  gone,  my  heart  seemed  to  be 
suffocated  and  ready  to  burst ;  I  looked  up  to  the  good 
Being  at  the  top  of  the  well;  he  stood  there  still,  regard- 
ing me  with  the  tenderest  compassion  ;  in  unspeakable 
anguish  I  cried,  'Save  me !  save  me  !'  and  in  a  moment 
I  was  at  the  top  of  the  well — I  was  safe !  and  the  terrors 
of  my  dream  all  vanished  away.  I  have  never  regarded 
dreams  as  worth  remembering,  and  yet  this  dream  told 
me  the  story  of  nry  life  in  such  vivid  colors,  that  I  could 
not  drive  it  from  my  mind.  I  was  oppressed — terrified 
— at  the  prospect  of  Hell,  and  began  to  pray  and  read 
the  Bible  diligently." 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Cox  (Presbyterian),  paid  a  beautiful 
tribute,  in  the  course  of  the  funeral  services,  to  his 
character  as  a  man,  and  we  introduce  it  to  show  that 
our  fidelity  as  a  historian  is  sustained  by  the  evidence, 
of  a  witness  as  disinterested  as  distinguished.     He  said  : 

"My  Christian  friends,  being  accidentally,  by  which 
I  mean  providentially,  in  this  city,  my  heart,  as  if  mag- 
netized, brought  me  to  this  spot ;  and  though  I  am 
speaking  in  the  presence  of  hundreds  who  probably 
knew  Brother  Cone  better  than  I  did,  I  doubt  if  there 
are  ten  who  have  known  him  so  long.  Some  ten  or 
twelve  years  since,  Dr.  Milner,  Dr.  Cone  and  myself, 
met  upon  a  committee,  as  we  often  had  done  before,  in 
this  city.     We  used  to  live  together  in  Philadelphia,  all 


LIFE   OF    8PENCEE   HCCGHTON    CONE.  63 

of  ns  ignorant  of  God.     I  recollect  that  Dr.   Milner, 
upon  that  occasion  asked,  '  Do  you  know  where  first  we 
met?'     'Yes,'  said  Dr.  Cone,  'at  the  theatre;  and  do 
you   know  where  we   all   expect   to  meet?'      We   all 
looked    upwards    in    hope    of    the    mediation    of    the 
Lord   Jesns   Christ,  to   whom  we  were   all  indissolubly 
and  for  ever  united  by  faith.     I  will  simply  add,  that 
while  Dr.  Milner  was  a  member  of  Congress  and  a  dis- 
tinguished lawyer,  he  was  awakened  and  began  to  seek 
God,  in  the  autumn  of  1812.     In  the  same  autumn  so 
did  I,  although  the  youngest  of  the  three,  and  I  believe 
it  was  in  the  next  spring  that  Brother  Cone  began  to 
seek  and  to  find  Him  who  first  sought  and  found  him. 
And  do  you  think  that  it  is  with  any  ordinary  interest 
that  I  contemplate  this  scene  ?  If  it  is  a  fact  that  on  some 
points  we  differed,  it  is  a  grander  fact  that  on  greater 
and  more  points  we  agreed.     I  always  felt  that  he  was 
my  brother,  and  I  am  very  glad  to  hope  that  in  the 
resurrection  of  the  just,  the  Universe  will  know  that  we 
were  brothers.      I  say  to  him,   '  Farewell,  sleeper  in 
Jesus.'     Them  that  sleep  in  Jesus,  shall  God  bring  unto 
him.      '  Of  all  that  my  father  hath  given  me  will  I  lose 
nothing,  but  will  raise  it  up  again  at  the  last  day.'     It 
is  almost  half  a  century  since  I  first  became  acquainted 
with  our  deceased  brother — since  he  first  impressed  me 
with  the  brilliancy  of  his  genius,  the  power  of  his  voice 
and  the  strength  of  his  mind.     Long  before  he  became 
a  Christian  I  knew  him  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia  and 
I  am  happy  to  attest — as  few  men  can  do  now,  because 
they  are  gone — that  his  character  for  morality,  and  for 
a  domestic  and  holy  affection,  I  had  almost  said,  for  his 
mother  and  other  relatives,  had  won  for  him  a  peculiar 
lame,  even  before  he  knew  Christ.     But  he  is  gone,  and 
I  have  no  doubt  that  Heaven  is  richer,  as  I  am  sure 
Earth  is  poorer,  because  he  has  left  us." 


64:  LIFE   OF    SPENCER   HOUGHTON    CONE. 


CHAPTER  V. 

1810-11-12. 

The  summer  of  1810  was  spent  as  usual  in  Baltimore, 
Washington  and  Alexandria.  On  the  6th  of  August  he 
left  Washington,  to  fulfill  an  engagement  at  the  latter 
place.  A  few  days  after  his  arrival,  he  met  with  an 
accident  which  laid  him  up  for  some  time.  In  a  letter 
dated  August  17th  he  alludes  briefly  to  it: 

"  I  have  been  confined  to  my  room  this  week,  and 
shall  be  I  fear  for  a  fortnight  to  come.  In  returning 
home  from  the  Falls  of  the  Potomac,  the  carriage  was 
overturned;  I  was  tumbled  underneath  it,  and  my  leg 
bruised  most  villainously  from  the  knee  to  the  ankle. 
So  here  I  am,  all  alone  in  this  town  of  Alexandria,  with 
my  foot  mounted  on  a  chair  and  pillow,  and  my  gentle 
disposition  in  not  the  sweetest  of  all  possible  moods  of 
course.  It  was  a  miracle  my  limbs  or  my  neck  did  not 
get  broken,  for  I  was  on  the  lower  side,  and  all  the 
people  in  the  carriage  came  thundering  down  on  my  poor 
harmless  shank.  But  there  is  a  special  providence  even 
in  the  fall  of  a  sparrow,  and  I  hope  I  am  sincerely  grate- 
ful for  my  escape." 

On  the  28th  of  the  same  month  he  says — "  My  leg  is 
getting  better — I  act  away  at  night,  and  sit  with  it 
perched  upon  a  chair  all  day."  The  extracts  of  letters 
showing  the  character  of  his  mind  at  this  period,  must 
necessarily  appear  desultory  and  unconnected,  but  it 
will  be  seen  how  constant  a  vein  of  correct  thinking  per- 
vades them.     They  show  that  his  character  was  very 


LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE.  65 

early  formed,  and  his  mind  always   occupied   in   the 
endeavor  to  arrive  at  truth. 

Thus  he  is  recommending  study  to  a  friend,  and  says  : 
"  I  am  confident  your  mind  is  capable  of  the  utmost 
refinement,  and  nothing  is  requisite  to  attain  this  desi- 
rable end   but  perseverance  and  industry.     You  well 
know  that  all  the  attractions  of  the  fairest  form  soon 
lose  their  magic  charm,  if  not  supported  by  an  improved 
taste  and  cultivated  understanding.     Who  then  that  has 
soul  or  reason,  would  not  exert  their  every  nerve  to  ren- 
der their  minds  at  least  as  beautiful  and  engaging  as 
their  persons!    Their  minds  that  live   for  ages— their 
persons,  alas !  like  a  summer  flower,  so  soon  cut  down. 
This  language  is  inconsistent  with  the  customs  and  prin- 
ciples of  the  gay  world  in  which  you  live,  but  not,  I 
trust,  entirely  ungrateful  to  you.     How  can  we  better 
thank  the  Author  of  our  existence,  than  by  improving 
the  noble  faculties  He  has  bestowed  upon  us  ?     In  what 
way  can  we  so  readily  achieve  our  own  earthly  comfort, 
or  how  pass  the  hours  of  a  life  made  dreary  by  disap- 
pointment or  poverty,  with  so  much  enjoyment  as  in 
communicating  our  sentiments  to  our  friends,  conversing 
with  them,  and  if  possible  instructing  them  ?     You  attach 
more  difficulty  to  the  idea  of  writing  than  belongs  to 
it.     Your  leisure  hours  are  some  of  them  undoubtedly 
employed  in  reading.     Thoughts,  conceptions,  a  variety 
of  ideas  and  opinions  must  necessarily  follow.     You  have 
then  only  to  arrange  the  reflections,  which  the  perusal  of 
a  well-written  book  occasions,  to  clothe  these  reflections 
in  your  own  words,  and  a  composition  must  be  produced 
more  or  less  perfect,  according  to  the  pains  you  have 
dedicated    to   it!     could    you    not   write    down^  your 
thoughts  on  love,  friendship,   manners;    the  duties  of 
wife  or  husband,  parent  or  child  ?     You  certainly  have 
thoughts  on  all  these  subjects,  and  is  it  not  as  easy  to 


66  LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

write  them  down,  as  to  speak  them  to  a  friend  ?  Believe 
me,  it  is  a  habit  soon  acquired.  A  little  attention  will 
make  it  rather  an  amusement  than  a  labor.  Have  you 
read  the  Scottish  chiefs?  Are  you  not  moved  by  heroic 
actions  ?  Does  not  the  glow  of  patriotism  kindle  in  your 
bosom  ?  Emotions  new,  terrific,  sublime,  crowd  upon 
you  at  the  recital.  Does  not  your  soul  put  up  a  fervent 
prayer  to  heaven  for  the  safety  of  Wallace,  while  storm- 
ing the  walls  of  Dumbarton,  or  when  marshalling  his 
gallant  band,  against  the  oppressors  of  his  country,  upon 
the  Carse  of  Sterling  ?  I  have  not  room  to  tell  you 
what  I  think  of  this  admirable  novel — a  novel  did  I  say? 
— 'tis  a  real  history.     Let  me  hear  what  you  think  of  it." 

How  delicately  the  timid  correspondent  is  drawn 
out!  How  simple  and  admirable  the  rules  laid  down 
• — to  write  without  effort  at  finery  or  rhetoric — to  write 
just  as  the  emotion  of  the  mind  dictates.  What  a  pity 
this  rule  were  not  universally  followed.  We  should 
come  somethiug  nearer  carrying  a  window  in  our 
breasts,  and  truth  would  perhaps  forsake  her  well,  to 
live  a  little  while  in  upper  air.  It  must  be  remembered 
that  this  was  written  shortly  after  the  appearance  of 
Miss  Porter's  celebrated  novel,  and  whilst  it  was  the 
book  of  the  day. 

In  a  letter  dated  October  16th,  1810,  occurs  the  first 
intimation  of  his  intention  to  abandon  the  stage.  The 
reasons  he  urges  are  precisely  the  same  he  ever  after- 
wards did,  and  his  consistency  shows  that  in  this  as  in 
all  other  actions  of  his  life  he  proceeded  upon  calm 
reflection,  and  was  governed  by  principles,  not  impulses. 

"  My  profession,"  he  says,  "  which  I  adopted  from 
necessity,  is  becoming  every  day  more  disgusting  tome. 
It  destroys  all  reflection  which  alone  can  improve  and 
enlighten  the  human  mind.  I  pray  heaven  that  I  may 
speedily  exchange  it  for  something  better  in  itself,  and 


LIFE    OF    SPENCER    HOUGHTON   CONE.  67 

also  more  congenial  to  my  feelings.  What  can  be  more 
degrading  to  the  nature  of  man  than  to  he  stuck  upon  a 
stage  for  fools  and  clowns  to  gape  at,  or  criticise.  Fellows 
who  can  hardly  write  their  own  name,  and  yet  think 
themselves  qualified  to  judge — approve — or  condemn!" 

From  this  time  lie  appears  to  have  made  untiring, 
though  often  foiled  attempts,  to  secure  a  position  more  in 
accordance  with  his  ideas  of  moral  duty  and  manly 
effort.     On  the  29th  of  the  same  month  he  says  : 

"  You  ascribe  to  me  a  greater  depression  of  spirits 
than  is  really  true.  I  am  indeed  rather  more  thoughtful 
than  formerly,  and  care  for  the  future  frequently  indu- 
ces serious  reflection.  But  this  I  am  far  from  consider- 
ing an  evil.  It  is  the  lot  of  man  to  be  assailed  with 
adversity's  keen  shafts  in  some  shape  or  other.  This 
world  is  the  school  of  misery,  and  our  first  lesson  is  to 
learn  to  suffer.  He  who  knows  not  that,  has  lived  for 
nothing.  Whilst  honor  and  integrity  remain  untar- 
nished, the  heart  is  secure  in  its  own  strength.  By 
reflecting  upon  our  moral  duties,  the  troubles  incident 
to  humanity,  the  native  energies  of  the  mind,  and  the 
great  reward  that  perseverance  never  fails  to  receive, 
we  acquire  a  confidence  in  ourselves,  wdiich,  joined  to  a 
consciousness  of  habitual  rectitude,  can  alone  enable  us 
not  only  to  meet  undismayed,  but  at  last  triumphantly 
to  surmount  the  direst  distresses." 

Once  become  the  subject  of  serious  reflection,  his  reso- 
lution appears  to  have  acquired  daily  strength.  On  the 
2nd  of  September,  1811,  he  writes  : 

"  Since  your  absence,  I  have  been  revolving  in  my 
mind  my  present  situation,  and  have  finally  determined, 
let  come  what  may,  to  abandon  for  ever  a  profession  in 
which  I  find  nothing  congenial  to  my  desires  or  tastes. 
It  holds  out  to  me  no  longer  any  allurement.  I  hope  I 
shall  not  be  deemed  either  thoughtless  or  culpable,  for 


68  LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON    CONE. 

believing  that  the  good  Power  above,  who  guides  our 
actions,  '  rough  hew  'em  how  we  will,'  on  poor  Spencer 
H.,  will  bestow  some  avocation  more  congenial  to  the 
wishes  of  his  friends,  and  the  warm  feelings  of  his  own 
heart.  Your  persuasion,  seconded  by  my  own  inclina- 
tion, has  caused  this  resolution,  and  I  most  fervently 
pray  that  it  may  tend  to  good.  I  have  formed  various 
schemes  for  future  employment,  none  of  which,  perhaps, 
will  be  carried  into  effect.  A  circulating  library  in 
Baltimore  is  much  wanted,  and  some  of  my  friends 
there  have  thought  an  establishment  of  the  kind  would 
prove  advantageous.  But  that  and  its  success  depend 
upon  contingencies ;  and  as  my  exjDenses  are  absolute 
and  certain,  my  receipts  must  be  the  same.  Then  I  be- 
think me  of  opening  an  academy ;  that  requires  no 
capital  but  a  stock  of  brains  and  patience;  yet  even 
these  are  rare  articles,  and  having  none  myself,  who  of 
my  intimates  will  have  the  goodness  to  supply  me?" 

In  referring  to  the  absoluteness  of  his  expenses,  he 
means  the  necessity  of  providing  for  his  mother's  family. 
Both  his  parents  at  this  time  wrere  ill. 

"  My  dear  mother,"  he  says,  "  is  confined  to  her  bed 
with  a  raging  fever.  She  has  been  ill  these  three  days. 
Heaven,  in  its  infinite  mercy,  save  and  restore  her  to  us. 
My  father's  insanity  is  changed  to  great  debility  and 
listlessness.  Much  as  I  have  suffered  on  his  account, 
and  terrible  as  the  trial  is  to  see  him  so,  I  cannot  but 
dread  the  probable  termination  of  his  present  state. 
Mother's  fortitude  is  indeed  great,  or  she  had  long  since 
sunk  beneath  the  weight  of  accumulated  griefs.  But 
why  should  I  make  you  acquainted  with  my  troubles? 
What  a  powerful  agent  is  selfishness.  We  all  bow  to  its 
influence.  But  for  this  I  should  never  have  abused  the 
kind  solicitude  you  manifest  in  whatever  concerns  me." 

It  is  not  wonderful  that  his  after  life  should  have  been 


LIFE    OF    SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE.  69 

marked  by  a  grave  and  unwavering  consistency  of  pur- 
pose ;  nor  that  fortitude  and  calm  self-reliance  should 
have  taken  in  him  the  air  almost  of  stubbornness.  The 
training  of  his  youth  prepared  him  for  a  course  as 
decided  as  it  was  conscientious.  It  is  highly  remark- 
able, too,  that  whilst  actively  engaged  in  a  profession, 
to  use  his  own  words,  "  more  calculated,  perhaps,  than  any 
other  to  stifle  reflection,  and  banish  thought,"  he  should 
have  constantly  indulged  in  the  most  serious  and  just 
reflection.  In  spite,  too,  of  the  ridicule  which  would 
naturally  attach  itself,  amongst  worldly  and  wicked 
men,  to  such  sentiments,  so  grave,  so  full  of  reproof  for 
them  and  for  himself,  uttered  by  one  of  themselves — by 
one  yet  pursuing  with  ardor  the  vainest  shadows  of 
worldly  distinction — encompassed  with  all  the  gaiety 
and  dissipation  of  fashion — the  centre  of  a  circle  of  what 
we  call  to-day,  "  fast  young  men  " — full  of  animal 
energy  and  spirit,  and  foremost  in  every  racket  match 
and  race  ball — in  spite  of  all  the  irony  it  no  doubt  drew 
upon  him,  it  is  delightful  to  see  how  faithfully  and 
bravely  he  utters  the  whole  truth. 

His  sister  Catherine,  a  woman  of  lovely  mind  and 
disposition,  and  afterwards  a  bright  ornament  of  the 
church,  had  been  brought  to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth, 
as  it  is  in  Christ  Jesus,  and  immersed  into  the  name  of 
the  Triune  God.  A  friend  has  written  to  him  sneeringly 
about  her  ;  insinuating  that  she  was  "  too  young,"  that 
it  was  "  pretence  of  being  better  than  the  rest  of  her 
young  companions,"  and  all  the  other  common  objec- 
tions of  the  unconverted,  to  whom  the  action  of  one  of 
their  own  number,  "  remembering  her  Creator  in  the 
days  of  her  youth,"  directs  the  most  pointed  and  unan- 
swerable reproof. 

Spencer  II.,  from  the  very  midst  of  his  gay  and 
wicked  companions,  replies,  April  19th,  1812  : — 


70  LIFE   OF    SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

"  1  cannot  but  differ  with  you  in  opinion,  as  it  respects 
my  dear  sister  Catherine.  Perhaps  when  you  consider 
the  subject  attentively,  divested  of  that  prejudice  which 
education  is  too  apt  to  impose  upon  us  all,  you  may 
think  differently. 

"You,  no  doubt,  remember,  that  when  some  would 
have  driven  away  the  children  that  pressed  near  Him,  our 
blessed  Saviour  made  use  of  those  ever-memorable  words, 
'  Suffer  the  little  children  to  come  unto  me,  for  of  such 
is  the  kingdom  of  heaven.'  Kitty's  being  '  so  young,' 
therefore,  instead  of  striking  me  as  an  objection,  forms 
one  of  the  strongest  points  in  proof  of  the  sincerity  of 
her  religious  choice.  A  thousand  passages  of  Scripture 
might  be  adduced  to  prove,  conclusively,  that — 

"  '  Youth  is  the  time  to  serve  the  Lord, 
The  time  to  insure  the  great  reward  !' 

"  What  sacrifice  do  we  make,  to  manifest  our  love 
and  gratitude  to  Him  who  offered  up  His  life  to  redeem 
a  fallen  race,  if  we  postpone  our  acknowledgments  of 
His  infinite  goodness,  until  the  eleventh  hour?  We  try 
the  world — we  tread  all  the  giddy  mazes  of  pleasure — 
we  taste  of  every  sweet  that  promises  enjoyment;  till  at 
length  the  overburdened  appetite  sickens  with  satiety, 
and  the  fascinating  allurements  that  once  captivated  our 
senses,  charm  us  no  more  !  We  look  back  upon  our  past 
life,  upon  the  golden  years  of  our  youth,  and  find  they 
have  all  been  thrown  away  upon  trifling  objects,  whose 
retrospection  does  not  afford  one  pleasurable  sensation. 
Consequently,  it  were  absurd  and  ridiculous  for  ns  to 
pursue  the  same  course  to  the  end  of  our  days,  for  we 
have  already  found  that  it  cannot  make  us  happy.  We 
have  kept  company,  and  fiddled,  and  danced  and  sung, 
till  we  can  do  so  no  longer;  and  then,  making  virtue  of 
necessity,  we  religiously  determine  to  become  good,  and 


LIFE    OF    SPENCER    HOUGHTON    CONE.  71 

serve  our  Creator.  But,  will  he  receive  us,  then  ? 
"When  our  bodies  were  vigorous,  and  our  minds  ani- 
mated and  elastic,  instead  of  laying  up  a  treasure,  where 
'  rust  does  not  corrupt,  and  where  thieves  do  not  break 
in  and  steal,'  we  devoted  them  entirely  to  worldly  plea- 
sures and  worldly  pursuits.  How,  then,  can  we  expect 
that  God  will  bend.  His  ear  unto  our  prayers,  when  we 
have  nothing  to  offer  up  to  Him  but  the  mere  wreck  of 
that  noble  being  He  created  ?  Ah,  no  !  It  is  a  fearful 
chance  to  put  off  Divine  impulses.  '  Behold,  now  is  the 
accepted  time;  behold,  now  is  the  day  of  salvation.'  The 
present  moment  is  oars — the  next  is  in  the  womb  of  futu- 
rity, and  we  may  never  live  to  realize  it. 

"  Kitty  has  become  a  member  of  that  holy  church, 
whose  walls,  as  Isaiah  describes  it,  '  are  called  salvation, 
and  whose  gates  are  praise.'  Is  she  not  safer  there, 
than  if  she  had  waited  some  years  to  try  how  potent  are 
the  temptations  of  the  world  ?  If  she  has  entered  it 
with  true  sincerity  of  belief,  and  humility  of  heart — and. 
this  we  do  not  doubt — is  she  not  under  the  especial  pro- 
tection of  her  Maker  ?  If  we  believe  the  Scriptures,  we 
know  she  is ;  '  for,  where  two  or  three  are  gathered, 
together  in  my  name,  there  am  I  in  the  midst  of  them.' 
Such  are  the  consolatory  words  of  that  omniscient  Being, 
the  '  light  of  whose  countenance '  does  ever  shine  upon 
believers.  How  then  can  they  go  astray  into  the  crooked 
paths  of  darkness  ?" 

Shortly  before  this  he  had  joined  the  Baltimore  Union 
Artillery,  and  devoted  himself  at  every  leisure  moment 
to  an  ardent  study  of  military  science.  The  cloud  of 
war  began  to  gather  in  the  distance.  The  English  orders 
in  council,  and  the  celebrated  Berlin  and  Milan  decrees 
of  Napoleon  Bonaparte,  had  disturbed  the  commerce 
of  the  world.  Men  were  attacked  in  their  most  sensi- 
tive   point — their  pocket — and    even    merchants   and 


72  LIFE   OF    SPENCER    HOUGHTON   CONE. 

traders,  proverbially,  and  in  all  communities,  the  most 
selfish  and  time-serving  class,  began  to  grow  patriotic. 
John  Bull,  insolent  and  overbearing,  as  he  has  ever 
been,  prior  to  his  Crimean  experiences,  insulted  and 
outraged  the  American  flag  whenever  an  opportunity 
offered.  Our  seamen  were  impressed,  American  citizen- 
ship scouted  as  a  protection  from  the  insolence  and 
violence  of  British  cruisers,  and  the  men  themselves 
taken  by  force  from  under  the  very  guns  of  their  own 
frigates,  by  English  press-gangs.  It  was  felt  that  war 
could  not  long  be  deferred.  The  first  mention  we  find 
him  make  of  his  personal  connection  with  the  prepara- 
tions for  the  impending  struggle,  occurs  in  a  letter,  dated 
January  7th,  1812  : — - 

"They  mustered  us  all  yesterday,  in  Howard's  Park, 
to  stand  a  draft  for  the  new  army.  I  was  so  unfortunate 
as  to  draw  a  blank,  and  of  course,  shall  not  be  permitted 
to  march  to  Canada.  Several  of  my  friends  here  have 
been  talking  to  me  about  obtaining  a  captain's  commis- 
sion, as  I  have  some  powerful  advocates  at  Court.  For 
the  present  I  have  declined  the  honor.  I  don't  know 
why  exactly.  Not  through  fear,  I  trust,  and  not,  I  am 
sure,  from  a  disapprobation  of  the  proposed  war." 

For  the  time,  therefore,  he  declined  a  commission  in 
the  army,  and  addressed  himself  to  the  task  he  had 
already  marked  out.  His  reasons  for  preferring  it,  he 
confesses  to  be  solely  his  family-ties,  and  the  dread  of 
leaving  mother  and  sister  unjarovided  for,  if  a  bullet 
should  find  its  billet  in  his  heart.  Thus  he  says,  March 
29th,  1812  :— 

"I  have  commenced  the  business  of  the  ensuing  year 
already,  by  canvassing  for  a  school.     All  I  have  spoken 
to  upon  the  subject  assure  me  it  cannot  but  succeed 
and  1  expect  to  have  an  academy  furnished,  and  pupils 
enough  engaged  to  warrant  my  opening  it,  by  the  first 


LIFE    OF    SPENCER    HOUGHTON    CONE.  73 

of  June,  at  farthest,  provided  I  can  obtain  the  mana- 
ger's leave  to  absent  myself  from  morning  rehearsal,  of 
which  I  have  very  little  doubt.  I  am  preparing  myself 
with  the  utmost  assiduity,  to  encounter  any  examination 
that  may  be  made  as  it  respects  my  capacity  to  teach 
grammar,  elocution,  mathematics,  &c,  &c,  and  I  think 
two  months'  close  application  will  store  my  memory 
with  all  those  scholastic  rules  and  usages  in  which  I  was 
once  so  perfect,  but  which  a  more  than  five  years'  inter- 
val has  tended  to  obliterate.  It  will,  indeed,  prevent  my 
sleeping  so  late  as  I  have  been  accustomed  to,  or  spend- 
ing so  many  hours  with  my  friends  as  usual,  but  the 
object  I  have  in  view  is  of  power  sufficient  to  inspire 
an  idiot  with  the  persevering  industry  of  a  Demos- 
thenes." 

But  he  could  not  obtain  the  desired  permission  to 
absent  himself,  and  organize  his  academy,  and  "the 
necessities  of  present  life"  bound  him  hand  and  foot. 
Still  his  brain  was  busy  with  plans,  and  in  May  he 
writes  : — u  If  war  is  not  previouslyT  declared,  I  expect  to 
be  in  Philadelphia  about  the  middle  of  June.  Some 
gentlemen  here  have  offered  me  a  share  in  a  Commer- 
cial Dictionary,  they  are  publishing,  by  which  1  think 
a  considerable  sum  may  be  made,  provided  hostilities 
do  not  take  place.  But  we  are  so  near  the  seat,  of  gov- 
ernment, that  the  only  cry  we  hear  is  war!  war!  war! 
Soldiers  are  constantly  marching  through  the  city,  and 
the  drum  has  scarcely  ceased  to  beat  for  a  single  day 
since  I  arrived  here."  But  his  favorite  scheme  was  the 
academy,  and  he  felt  the  disappointment  keenly.  *'  I 
am  vexed,"  he  says,  "  and  out  of  patience  with  this 
villainous,  deceitful  world.  My  proposed  plan  for  Eng- 
lish and  classical  education  met  with  no  encouraging 
warmth — 'twas  cold,  chilling  apathy.  I  had  to  ask  sup- 
port and  patronage  from  some  whose  charitable  hearts 

4 


74  LIFE   OF   SPENCEK    HOUGHTON   CONE. 

could  scarcely  be  induced  to  believe  that  an  actor  might 
be  an  honest,  intelligent  being ;  and  not  of  necessity, 
either  an  idiot  or  a  vagabond  !  To  have  my  principles 
or  abilities  called  in  question  by  fellows,  whose  under- 
standings could  scarce  aspire  to  the  '  composition  of  a  cab- 
bage-net,' and  whose  hearts  are  as  impervious  to  human 
feeling  as  their  heads  to  a  Greek  epigram,  is  rather  too 
much  for  an  irritable  creature,  as  you  know  I  am,  quietly 
to  endure.     'Twas  too  much  for  flesh  and  blood." 

Happily  for  his  desires,  an  opening  presented  itself, 
and  at  the  close  of  his  engagement,  he  entered  the  office 
of  the  "  Baltimore  American,"  as  treasurer  and  book- 
keeper to  the  establishment.  The  paper  was  in  a  flour- 
ishing condition,  the  accounts  numerous,  and  the  duties 
of  his  post  constant  and  laborious  ;  but  he  pursued  them 
with  a  light  heart,  and  untiring  devotion.  He  had  now 
been  for  more  than  two  years  engaged  to  be  married  to 
Miss  Morrell.  His  love  for  her  Was  passionate  and 
intense  ;  his  whole  nature  was  absorbed  by  it.  She  had 
refused  to  marry  him  so  long  as  he  should  remain  upon 
the  stage.  His  quitting  it  was  a  sine  qua  non  with 
regard  to  their  union.  No  labor,  therefore,  appeared 
hard  to  him,  no  effort  beyond  his  strength.  His  habits 
underwent  an  entire  change.  "I  rise  regularly  at  five 
in  the  morning,"  he  writes — "  '  from  necessity,  and  not 
choice,'  you'll  say.  No  matter — I  do  it — and  wend  my 
way  to  the  office,  and  post  my  books." 

To  a  friend  in  Philadelphia  lie  writes,  in  July,  1S12 : — 
"While  you  are  enjoying  the  sweets  of  retirement, 
and  offering  incense  to  the  goddess  Flora,  we  talk  of 
nothing  but  the  'mailed  Mars,  up  to  the  ears  in  blood.' 
We  hear  nothing  but  the  martial  drum,  the  shrill  fife, 
the  war-blowing  clarion.  The  battle-steed  already  rears 
his  lofty  head,  proud  of  his  patrioti-3  rider;  and  the 
warrior,  snuffing  oppression  on  the  gale,  with  enthusias- 


LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE.  75 

tic  zeal,  buckles  on  the  armor  of  resistance  with  all  a 
freeman's  wonted  alacrity  !  Success  to  our  cause  !  and 
may  all  who  have  enlisted  in  its  support 

" '  Remember  the  heroes,  our  fathers,  who  stood, 
In  the  day  of  distress,  side  by  side ; 
When  the  grass  of  the  vallies  grew  red  with  their  blood 
They  stirred  not,  but  conquered  or  died !' 

My  heart  pants  with  anxious  solicitude  for  the  fate 
of  our  gallant  little  navy.  Rogers  and  Decatur  will  cer- 
tainly cover  themselves  with  glory !  They  will  fight 
like  heroes  to  the  last,  and  die  as  brave  men  ought !  I 
tremble  for  their  immediate  safety,  opposed  as  they  are 
.by  overwhelming  numbers.  But  let  us  confide  in  the 
God  of  battles,  who  will  ultimately  crown  the  cause  of 
virtue  with  success." 

Every  pulse  of  his  heart  throbbed  with  love  of  coun- 
try. It  was  not  the  product  of  thought  and  reason  in 
him — it  was  a  kind  of  nature.  He  was  altogether 
American,  and  clung  to  everything  which  belonged  to 
his  country  or  bore  her  name,  not  so  much  wTith  the 
calm  persuasion  of  reason,  as  with  the  warm  passion  of 
the  lover.  America  was  the  mistress  of  his  soul.  She 
was  the  home  of  freedom — the  land  of  the  brave.  The 
soul  of  man  had  here  room  and  verge  enough  for  its 
expansion.  No  shackle  bound  the  conscience.  !No 
power  interposed  between  man  and  his  Creator.  A 
glorious  equality  elevated  him  to  the  highest  point  of 
humanity,  and  opened  for  him  all  the  avenues  of  distinc- 
tion. Merit  was  the  true  rank ;  virtue  the  only  order 
of  nobility.  She  was  a  mistress  worthy  of  the  idolatry 
of  a  soul  glowing  with  a  poetic  patriotism,  a  lofty  faith 
in  man's  capacity  for  self  government,  and  he  loved  her 
always  witli  the  same  passionate  devotion,  the  same 
republican  energy  of  soul.     There  was  no  narrowness  in 


76  LIFE    OF   SPENCEK    HOUGHTON    CCKE. 

liis  love.  To  be  an  American  was,  in  his  mind,  to  inherit 
a  duty  to  all  mankind.  The  world  had  never  known 
before  what  it  was  to  have  a  city  of  refuge.  God  had 
opened  in  the  "Western  world  such  a  city,  an  ark  of 
safety  for  the  oppressed  of  all  lands,  who  had  an  energy 
of  soul  sufficient  to  enable  them  to  cut  away  the  ties  of 
habit,  and  nativity,  and  enter  into  its  blessedness. 
Thus  he  considered  the  sentiment  of  Americanism 
to  be  a  sentiment  of  love  and  sympathy  with  all  men 
— an  universal  philanthropy.  To  attack  America  or 
her  institutions,  was  with  him  to  threaten  the  new 
ark  of  the  covenant  of  liberty.  The  hostile  attitude  of 
Great  Britain,  therefore,  in  1812,  aroused  whatever  was 
then  bitter  or  vengeful  in  his  nature.  The  last  asylum 
of  free  thought,  of  the  expansive  energies  of  humanity, 
was  menaced  by  a  power  which  had  everywhere  allied 
itself  with  despotism,  everywhere  formed  coalitions,  and 
subsidized  venal  courts,  against  the  democratic  idea  as 
developed  in  republican  France.  A  sacrilegious  blow 
was  to  be  aimed  at  the  struggling  youth  of  Freedom  in 
the  Western  world.  He  could  not  endure  that  others 
should  offer  their  breasts  as  a  shield  for  his  country, 
thus  menaced,  and  he  not  share  the  danger.  He  must 
be  a  soldier.  In  such  a  cause  it  seemed  base  flattery, 
to  call  the  man  who  hesitated  a  coward.  He  studied 
military  science,  with  that  power  of  concentration  of 
thought  of  which  he  was  always  master,  and  made  him- 
self proficient  as  an  artillery  officer — waiting  impatiently 
the  summons  to  the  field. 

Baltimore  has  always  been  a  city  of  strong  patriotic 
impulses.  Her  citizens  are  generally  men  of  warm  and 
earnest  feelings,  and  the  war  sentiment  pervaded  her 
whole  population. 

During  the  summer  of  1812,  several  popular  outbreaks 
threatened  to  take  place  against  individuals,  obnoxious 


LIFE   OF   SPENCER    HOUGHTON   CONE.  ?7 

on  account  of  their  imputed  sympathy,  or  correspon- 
dence with  the  English.  One  riot  did  actually  occur,  of 
an  alarming  and  sanguinary  character.  Under  date  of 
August  4th  he  describes  it. 

"The  narrow  limits  of  an  epistle  preclude  the  possi- 
bility of  narrating  the  bloody  and  horrible  circumstan- 
ces that  occurred  in  Baltimore  last  week.     They  beggar 
all  description.     The  town  was  in   alarm  and  confusion 
for  two  nights,  and  all   occasioned  by  twenty  or  thirty 
desperadoes,  who  had  before  braved  the  citizens,  and 
publicly  declared  they  would  oppose  the  present  admin- 
istration (Madison's)  at  all  hazards.     Then,  to  complete 
their  folly,  they   fortify  a  house  here,  from  which  their 
treasonous  libels  were  to  be  forced   upon   the  public, 
although  they  had  had  one  office  demolished  not  a  month 
before.     The  populace  hearing  there  were  a  great  num- 
ber of  men,   who,   after   uttering    bloody   threats,  had 
armed   for  defence,  immediately  after  dark    gathered 
about   the    house.      From  irritating   threats,    on   each 
side,    they    proceeded    to     breaking     windows.     The 
mob  were   then  fired   on    by  those   garrisoned  in   the 
house.     One    man    was   killed    dead    upon    the    spot, 
Dr.  Gale,  who  has  left  a  wife  and  six  children.     Mr. 
Williams    a    grocer,    one    of    our    subscribers,    and    a 
worthy  man,  died  yesterday,  and  left  a  wife  on  the  point 
of  confinement,  and  two  little  helpless  children.    He  Jived 
but  half  a  square  from  the  'Tory  Block- House,'  as  it  is 
called,  and  hearing  a  noise,  went  to  see,  from  the  opposite 
side  of  the  street,  what  occasioned  it.     There  were  about 
thirry  others  wounded,  some  dangerously.     The  reports 
of  the  friends  and  acquaintances  of  those  who  were  killed 
and  wounded,  together  with  the  constant  discharge   of 
musketry,   before   morning,   as  you   may  suppose,  had 
called  together  an  immense  crowd.     Vengeance  was  in 
the  mouth  of  every  one.     The  mayor  and  some  others 


78  LIFE   OF  SPENCER    HOUGHTON   CONE. 

prevented  the  house  from  being  pulled  down  that 
moment,  and  all  within  murdered.  (Mr.  Cone  was,  we 
are  informed,  with  the  mayor.)  About  thirty  rushed  out 
at  the  back  gate  and  escaped  before  daylight.  Seven- 
teen had  the  temerity  to  remain  till  morning,  when  they 
were  conducted  to  jail.  About  9  o'clock  p.  m.  the  next 
day  the  jail  was  surrounded  ;  the  doors,  and,  indeed,  a 
wall  of  two  feet  thickness,  were  broken  down  ;  the 
causers  of  the  riot  were  dragged  from  their  dungeon — 
one  of  them  killed — eight  dreadfully  beaten,  and  eight 
escaped.  The  moment  the  last  door  was  battered  down, 
the  prisoners  extinguished  the  candles,  mixed  with  the 
crowd,  and  cried  out  with  them,  '  Kill  the  damned 
Tories  !'  which  alone  saved  them." 

Baltimore  and  the  Baltimoreans  were  always  dear  to 
him,  and  when,  in  reference  to  this  very  occasion,  a 
friend  wrote  to  him  censuring  them  severely,  and  ani- 
madverting sharply  upon  their  character,  he  replied 
promptly : — 

"  As  I  am  now  a  citizen  of  Baltimore,  I  cannot  but 
feel  chagrined  and  mortified  that  its  inhabitants  should 
be  so  basely  slandered  ;  and  that  every  ridiculous  story 
which  Federal  love  for  England  delights  to  propagate, 
should  no  sooner  reach  your  ears  than  it  gains  entire 
credence.  My  present  occupation  has  made  me  ac- 
quainted with  a  very  large  portion  of  the  people  of  this 
town,  and  as  I  cannot  think  myself  entitled  to  the  name 
either  of  knave  or  fool,  my  opinions,  I  presume,  are  not 
entirely  erroneous. 

"Baltimore  has  grown  with  almost  unprecedented 
rapidity.  Its  mechanics  are  characterized  by  industry, 
and  its  merchants  by  enterprise.  No  city  on  the  con- 
tinent contains  proportionably  a  greater  number  of  pub- 
lic institutions:  of  banks,  seminaries,  and  churches. 
At  least  three-fourths  of  us  are  devoted  to  our  beloved 


LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE.  T9 

country,  its  happy  Constitution  and  laws  ;  are  ready  to 
risk  our  lives  and  all  we  hold  dear  on  earth  in  defence 
of    those    boasted    institutions    of    liberty    and    equal 
rights,  for  the  establishment  of  which  our  fathers  toiled 
and  bled  through  a  seven  years'  war.     Is  it  for  such 
feelings,  and  such  principles  as  these  you  '  despise  the 
Baltimoreans  V  or,  have  you  suffered  yourself,  in  con- 
junction with   many   others,  to   be   so   unjust  and   so 
ungenerous  as  to  condemn  to  lasting  infamy  a  whole 
community,  merely  because  a  hundred  lawless  wretches 
have    committed    a   most   horrid   outrage   upon   social 
order?     Believe  me,  the  great  majority  here  are  as  sin- 
cere lovers  of  order,  and  do  as  solemnly  deprecate  mobs 
as  any  other  people   in  the  world.     They  suppressed 
them  immediately.     The  ringleaders  were  arrested,  and 
the   grand  jury  have   found   them   guilty  of  murder. 
What  more  could  have  been  done  ?     But  enough  of  this 
subject.     'Tis  probable  that  we  shall  never  think  alike 
upon  it.     From  my  soul  I  believe  Alexander  Hanson 
and  his  associates  enemies  and  traitors  to  their  country ; 
that  they  are  joined  with   the  Essex  Junta,  and  are 
devising  means  to  bring  about  a  separation  of  the  Union. 
Then  farewell  to  American  happiness  and  prosperity  ! 
We  shall  soon  destroy  each  other  by  dissensions  and 
civil  wars ;  or  tall  an  easy  prey  to  that  humane  and 
Christian  nation,  who,  by  falsehood  and  bribery,  have, 
at  length,  succeeded  in  raising  the  scalping-knife  of  the 
savao-e   against   the   helpless    families   that   are  thinly 
scattered  over  our  extensive  frontiers.     Neither  age  nor 
sex  are  spared  !     Nay,  at  this  very  moment,  when  per- 
haps some  frantic  mother  is  shrieking  over  her  butchered 
babe,  Hanson  and  his  crew,  who  have  the  audacity  to 
call    themselves  Americans,   are    boldly    and    publicly 
advocating   the    cause  of  the    cruel    government  with 
which  we^are  actually  at  war.     Is  this  patriotic  ?     They 


80  LIFE   OF   SPENCEB   HOUGHTON   COISTE. 

have  repeatedly  declared  that  'Madison  was  directed 
by  Napoleon' — that  the  majority  in  Congress  were  sold 
and  under  French  influence — that  they  would  oppose 
the  war  and  the  Administration  by  every  means  in  their 
power,  &c,  &c.  Is  it  to  be  wondered  that  the  people 
should  be  enraged  at  such  paragraphs  as  these  ?  I  think 
not." 

In  the  latter  part  of  1812,  he  finally  retired  from  the 
stage,  and  devoted  himself  to  the  support  of  Mr.  Madi- 
son's administration,  and  the  advocacy  of  the  war 
against  Great  Britain,  to  the  well-remembered  battle- 
cry  of,  "  Free  Trade  and  Sailors'  Rights."  The  injustice 
of  the  coarse  pursued  by  the  English  government,  in 
impressing  our  seamen,  and  violating  the  neutrality  of 
our  flag,  excited  him  to  a  passionate  opposition.  These 
events  are  become  historical,  and  but  little  interest  can 
attach  to  the  personal  expressions  of  any  individual. 
It  is  not,  however,  ungrateful  to  remember,  that  his  pen 
exercised  a  large  influence  in  rallying  the  democracy 
of  the  country  to  a  heartier  support  of  the  administra- 
tion against  foes,  both  foreign  and  domestic  ;  and  cheered 
the  patriot  in  defending  the  cause  of  his  country  against 
an  invader,  whose  entire  course,  particularly  in  the 
neighborhoods  of  Baltimore  and  Washington,  was 
marked  rather  by  the  rapacious  cruelty  of  the  barba- 
rian, than  the  boasted  chivalry  of  the  English  soldier. 
It  is  rather  an  unfortunate  circumstance  that  Americans 
should  always  have  been  so  unlucky  as  to  find  John 
Bull,  in  time  of  war,  in  one  of  his  least  Christian 
humors,  and  be  compelled  to  recollect  him  as  identified 
with  a  provost  Marshal  Cunningham,  or  an  Admiral 
Cockburn. 

During  the  summer  of  1812,  Miss  Morrell's  uncle, 
Chandler  Price,  who  had  been  the  most  violent  oppo- 
nent of  her  intimacy  with  Mr.  Cone,  died.     The  opposh 


LIFE    OF    SPENCER   nOUGHTON    CONE. 


81 


tion  of  her  relatives,  however,  did  not  cease.  They  had 
set  their  heart  upon  a  wealthy  and  fashionable  match 
for  her,  in  her  own  set;  and  the  idea  of  her  attachment 
to  a  man  of  no  position  in  what  they  then,  and  many 
still,  are  pleased  to  call  "  good  society,"  and  one  withal 
dependent  upon  his  daily  exertions  for  his  daily  bread, 
was  insupportable  to  them.  She  had  seen  into  his  mind, 
however,  with  the  inspiration  of  affection,  and  all 
attempts  to  injure  or  degrade  him  in  her  estimation, 
tended  only  to  give  her  a  more  entire  confidence  in  his 
goodness. 

To  please  his  betrothed,  he  yielded  his  desire  to  join 
the  Canadian  expedition  then  talked  of: — 

"  You  have  made  me  effeminate,"  he  says,  "  and  in  my 
temper  softened  valor's  steel.     Farewell,  then,   to  the 
subject  of  Canada.     When  I  urged  the  impossibility  of 
your  condemning  in  me  what  you  admired  in  others,  I 
clid  not  refer  immediately  to  a  soldier's  cap, but  to  those 
principles  of  patriotism  which  ever  animate  freemen, 
and  which  I  deem  the  proudest  boast  of  brave  and  true 
Americans.     I  have  ever  believed  it  just  and  commend- 
able to  love  one's  country,  and  when  I  read  how  our 
forefathers   pledged    'their    lives,   their   fortunes,  and 
their  sacred  honor'  for  its  defence,  I  cannot  help  ask- 
ing myself  how  I  can  be  exempt  from  toil  and  sacri- 
fices ?     Why  should  not  I,  too,  march  to  the  tented  field  ? 
I  have  been  listening  to-day,  too,  to  an  address  deli- 
vered  by  the  Rev.  John  Hargrove  to  the  Baltimore 
Volunteers,  who   have   received   orders   to   march   to- 
morrow morning.     The  address  was  a  very  animated 
one,  and  produced  many  a  burst  of  indignation,  coming 
from  the  lips  of  an  old  "Revolutionary  character,  whose 
only  son  was  pressed  on  board  an  English  frigate,  and  in 
attempting  to  escape,  found  refuge  only  in  a  watery 
grave.     When  I  beheld   the   tears   of  bitter  anguish 

4* 


82  LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

rolling  down  the  venerable  cheeks  of  a  disconsolate, 
grey-headed  old  man,  -who  had  lost  the  prop  of  his 
declining  years,  I  must  confess  my  feelings  were  such 
as  words  cannot  describe."  * 

"Your  noble  qualities,  the  genuine  offspring  of  a 
government,  whose  vital  principles  are  equal  liberty 
and  equal  rights,  have  endeared  you  to  me,"  he  says  to 
a  friend  ;  "I  shall  for  ever  abhor  the  idea  of  your  chang- 
ing an  opinion,  merely  because  it  does  not  happen  to 
coincide  with  mine.  Without  boasting,  I  hope  I  am 
honest  and  just.  I  think  my  political  tenets  are  not 
enshrined  in  prejudice,  and  I  am  quite  certain  they 
were  not  consecrated  upon  the  altar  of  interest.  I  know 
that  I  love  in  an  especial  manner  my  country,  my 
family,  and  my  friends.  My  belief  in  the  expediency, 
propriety,  and  absolute  necessity  of  the  present  war 
with  Great  Britain,  is  hearted.  Merciful  heaven  !  are 
there  human  beings,  or,  what  is  worse,  much  worse, 
Americans,  who  not  only  defend,  but  approve  the  cause 
and  conduct  of  England  %  Oh  !  my  blood  curdles  in  my 
veins,  when  I  hear  reasonable  creatures  applauding  that 
corrupt  and  nefarious  government;  applauding  a  power 
which  has  deprived  two-thirds  of  the  inhabitants  of  Ire- 
land of  their  birthright ;  that,  under  the  semblance  of  law, 
murdered  the  innocent  William  Orr,  the  eloquent  Em- 
met the  patriotic  and  immortal  Tone  ! — that  government, 
whose  fiend-like  agents  drove  many  of  the  miserable 
citizens  of  Waterford  from  their  homes,  and  when  the 
remaining  women  and  children  took  shelter  in  a  holy 
temple  of  the  Most  High,  instantly  set  it  on  fire  ! — that 
government,  which  has  entombed  eleven  thousand  Ame- 
rican seamen  on  board  their  floating  dungeons,  where 
they  have  been  flogged  by  English  hands,  and  compelled 
to  fight  even  against  their  brethren ;  and,  to  sum  all 
up,  that  corrupt  and  inhuman  government,  which  has 


LIFE   OF    SPENCER   HOUGHTON'    CONE.  83 

sent  the  savage  upon  our  defenceless  borders,  to  stalk  in 
indiscriminate  butchery,  and  do  deeds  from  which 
humanity  shrinks  with  detestation  and  horror  !  And 
yet,  under  all  these  circumstances,  you  listen  patiently, 
perhaps  belie  vingly,  to  those  who  denounce  democrats, 
and  a  democratic  administration,  and  side  with  those 
who  say  everything  in  favor  of  England,  and  against 
their  own  country.  Can  it  be  so  ?  I  do  not  express 
myself  thus  strongly  without  careful  reflection.  These 
are  no  times  to  trifle.  Our  prosperity  is  threatened  by 
too  many  implacable  foes  from  both  within  and  with- 
out. My  beloved  country  needs  all  her  friends.  For 
this  reason,  I  have  cheerfully  assumed  a  soldier's  cap. 
If  I  be  wrong  in  this,  I  must  be  wrong  in  everything. 
If  my  love  of  country  be  not  of  the  right  kind,  then  am 
I  willing  to  yield  up  all  pretensions  to  correctness  upon 
any  subject ;  then  am  I  willing  to  confess  that  the  best 
passions  and  affections  of  my  soul,  are  base  and  insig- 
nificant. But  you,  an  American,  cannot  doubt  the 
righteousness  of  our  cause.  Farewell,  and,  oh  remem- 
ber !—  it  is  sweet  to  die  for  our  country." 


84:  LIFE    OF   SPENCER    HOUGHTON    CONE. 


CIIAPTEK   VI. 
1813-14-15-16. 

It  was  in  the  midst  of  the  war,  and  whilst  most 
ardently  employed  in  the  defence  of  the  Administration, 
that  two  events  took  place,  by  which  all  his  after  life 
was  colored — his  happy  marriage  and  his  happier  con- 
version. 

Plis  account  of  how  he  was  brought  from  darkness 
into  God's  marvellous  light,  so  plain,  so  eloquent,  needs 
no  addition  from  us. 

"  Having  served  the  proprietors  of  the  '  American ' 
more  than  a  year,  John  Norvell,  Esq.,  of  Kentucky,  who 
married  my  youngest  sister  (long  since  dead),  and  who 
has  since  been  Senator  of  the  United  States  from  Michigan, 
induced  me  to  unite  with  him  and  purchase  and  conduct 
the  '  Baltimore  Whig.'  During  the  last  war  we  sustained 
the  Madison  Administration  with  all  our  powers  ;  at  the 
same  time  I  commanded  the  Baltimore  Union  Artillery 
Company,  and  was  carried  away  with  military  ardor. 
For  two  years  I  do  not  recollect  attending  public  wor- 
ship more  than  twice.  Politics  and  war  completely 
engrossed  my  mind. 

"  In  the  month  of  November,  1813,  after  breakfast,  I 
took  up  a  newspaper,  and  saw,  among  other  things,  a 
large  sale  of  books  advertised  at  Wood's  auction  rooms, 
and  said  to  myself  I  will  look  in  as  I  go  to  the  office, 
and  see  what  they  are.  1  did  so,  and  the  first  book  I 
took  up  was  a  volume  of  the  Works  of  John  Newton. 
In  an  instant  my  whole  life  passed  in  review  before  me. 


LIFE    OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON    CONE.  85 

I   remembered   talcing  that   book   out   of   the   college 
library,  while  at  Princeton,  and  reading  Newton's  Life 
to  my  mother.     His  dream  of  the  lost  ring  reminded  me 
forcibly  of  my  dream  of  the  well,  and  I  felt  an  ardent 
desire  to  own  the  book  and  read  the  dream  again.     I 
left  the  rooms,  having  first  requested  Mr.  Wood,  who 
was  a  particular  friend,  to  put  it  up  for  sale  as  soon  as 
he  saw  me  in  the  evening,  as  it  was  the  only  work  I 
wanted.     He  promised  to  do  so,  and  I  immediately  went 
out  towards  our  office,  which  was  nearly  opposite  ;  but 
I  had  scarcely  reached  the  middle  of  the  street,  when  a 
voice  '  like  the  sound  of  many  waters,'  said  to  me — this 
is  your  last  warning !     I  trembled  like  an  aspen  leaf— I 
feltmyself  to  be  in  the  grasp  of  the  Almighty,  and  an 
earthquake  could  not  have  increased  my  dismay.     Ser- 
mons heard  when  only  eight  years  old,  on  the  Balm  of 
Giiead,  and  on  the  Lamb  of  God— the  dream— all  were 
painfully  present,  and  I  thought  my  hour  of  doom  had 
come.     I  went  to  the  office,  took  clown  the  day-book  to 
charge  the  new  advertisements,  but  my  hand  trembled 
so  that  I  could  not  write,  and  1  put  the  book  back  in  its 
place.     I  went  out  into  South  street— then  walked  up 
and  down  Market  street  in  the  crowd  till  dinner-time,  to 
drown,  if  it  were  possible,  my  thoughts  and  feelings. 
But  all  in  vain.     The  sound  still  rung,  not  only  in  my 
ears,  but  through  my  heart,  like  the  sound  of  a  trumpet 
— this  is  your  last  warning !     I  went  home  to  dinner, 
endeavoring  to  conceal  my  feelings  as  much  as  possible 
from  my  wife.     The  day  wore  heavily  away ;  I  was  at 
the   auction   room  at  the   hour;    purchased  the   book 
that  seemed  so  strangely  connected  with  my  weal  or 
woe  ;  returned  to  my  house  immediately  and  read  New- 
ton's eventful  life  entirely  through  before  retiring  to 
rest.     There  seemed  to  be  some  strong  points  of  resem- 
blance between  us ;  he  had  been  rescued  from  the  wrath 


86  LIFE   OF    SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

to  come !  "What  would  become  of  me  ?  I  found  that 
lie  read  the  Bible  and  obtained  light.  I  went  to  bed 
with  the  determination  of  rising  early  to  imitate  his 
example,  and  search  the  Scriptures.  My  dear  young 
wife  thought  I  was  going  mad.  Oh  no  !  no  !  I  was  not 
mad  !  He  who  had  compassion  on  the  poor  Gadarene, 
was  now  bringing  me  to  my  right  mind  in  a  way  that 
I  knew  not. 

"  I  commenced  reading  the  Scriptures  with  deep 
interest,  to  find  out  how  a  sinner  could  be  saved ;  and 
in  two  months,  read  the  Psalms  and  different  portions  of 
the  Old  Testament,  and  the  New  Testament  I  think  more 
than  twenty  times  through.  The  Psalms,  John's  Gospel, 
and  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  were  particularly  pre- 
cious. It  required  great  effort  to  attend  to  domestic 
duties,  and  my  business  in  the  office  ;  for  I  felt  continu- 
ally that  it  would  profit  me  nothing  '  to  gain  the  whole 
world,  and  at  last  lose  my  own  soul.'  I  sought  out 
preachers,  and  heard  Mr.  Duncan  frequently ;  but  I 
could  not  learn  from  any  of  them  the  way  of  salvation. 
One  evening,  after  the  family  had  all  retired,  I  went  up 
into  a  vacant  garret,  and  walked  backwards  and  for- 
wards in  great  agony  of  mind ;  I  kneeled  down  ;  the 
instance  of  Hezekiah  occurred  to  me  ;  like  him  I  turned 
my  face  to  the  wall  and  cried  for  mercy.  An  answer 
seemed  to  be  vouchsafed  in  an  impression,  that  just  as 
many  years  as  I  had  passed  in  rebellion  against  God,  so 
many  years  I  must  now  endure,  before  deliverance  could 
be  granted.  I  clasped  my  hands  and  cried  out,  'Yes, 
dear  Lord,  a  thousand  years  of  such  anguish  as  I  now 
feel,  if  I  may  only  be  saved  at  last.'  I  continued  to 
read,  and  whenever  I  could  steal  away  unobserved  into 
the  garret,  there  I  walked  the  floor,  when  all  around 
was  hushed  in  sleep ;  there  I  prayed  and  poured  out 
tears  of  bitter  sorrow.     While  thus  engaged  one  night, 


LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE.  87 

the  plan  of  salvation  was  revealed  to  me  in  the  figure 
of  Noah's  Ark.  I  saw  an  ungodly  race  swept  away 
with  the  flood,  but  Noah  and  his  family  were  saved,  for 
God  shut  them  in  the  Ark.  I  felt  that  as  a  sinner  I  was 
condemned  and  justly  exposed  to  immediate  and  everlast- 
ing destruction.  I  saw  distinctly  that  in  Christ  alone  I 
must  be  saved,  if  saved  at  all ;  and  the  view  I  at  that  mo- 
ment had  of  God's  method  of  saving  sinners,  I  do  still  most 
heartily  entertain,  after  thirty  years'  experience  of  his 
love.  This  was  Saturday  night,  and  that  night  I  slept 
more  sweetly  than  I  had  done  for  many  weeks.  Before 
daylight  on  Lord's  clay  morning  I  awoke,  and  went 
down  stairs  quietly,  made  a  fire  in  the  front  parlor,  and 
threw  open  the  window-shutters,  and  as  soon  as  I  could 
see,  commenced  reading  the  New  Testament.  I  opened 
to  the  13th  chapter  of  John,  and  came  to  where  Peter 
said,  '  thou  shall  never  wash  my  feet ;'  Jesus  answered 
him,  '  If  I  wash  thee  not,  thou  hast  no  part  with  me.' 
Simon  Peter  saith  to  him,  '  Lord,  not  my  feet  only,  but 
also  my  hands  and  my  head.'  At  that  moment  my 
heart  seemed  to  melt.  I  felt  as  if  plunged  into  a  bath 
of  blood  divine — I  was  cleansed  from  head  to  foot — 
guilt  and  the  apprehension  of  punishment  were  both 
put  away ;  tears  of  gratitude  gushed  from  my  eyes  in 
copious  streams  ;  the  fire  in  the  grate  shone  on  the  paper 
upon  the  wall,  and  the  room  was  full  of  light ;  I  fell 
upon  the  hearth-rug,  on  my  face,  at  the  feet  of  Jesus, 
and  wept  and  gave  thanks ;  my  sins,  which  were  many, 
were  all  forgiven,  and  a  peace  of  mind  succeeded  which 
passeth  understanding.  Bless  the  Lord,  O  my  soul ! 
from  that  hour  to  the  present,  a  doubt  of  my  calling 
and  election  of  God  has  never  crossed  my  mind.  With 
all  my  imperfections,  shortcomings,  and  backsliding  of 
heart,  I  have  from  that  hour  steadfastly  believed  that 
'neither  death,  nor  life,  nor  angels,  nor  principalities, 


88  LIFE   OF    SPENCER    HOUGHTON    CONE. 

nor  powers,  nor  tilings  present,  nor  things  to  come,  nor 
height,  nor  depth,  nor  any  other  creature,  shall  be  able 
to  separate  me  from  the  love  of  God  which  is  in  Christ 
Jesns  my  Lord !' 

"  I  wished  immediately  to  be  baptized.  There  was 
no  question  as  to  the  right  way.  I  had  read  the  New 
Testament  so  thoroughly  that  the  doctrines  of  the  Gospel 
were  perfectly  plain,  though  I  had  not  conferred  with 
flesh  and  blood,  or  asked  any  one  what  church  I  ought 
to  join. 

"  Next  day  I  went  to  Brother  Lewis  Richards,  pastor 
of  the  First  Baptist  Church,  Baltimore,  to  inquire  when 
I  could  be  baptized. 

"  He  said  he  would  converse  with  me  on  "Wednesday, 
being  then  engaged,  and  let  me  know.  I  called  accord- 
ing to  appointment,  and  he  requested  me  to  relate  my 
Christian  experience.  I  told  him  what  God  had  done 
for  my  soul.  He  said  if  I  would  come  to  their  church 
meeting,  next  Friday  afternoon,  at  three  o'clock,  he 
would  be  glad  to  hear  me  say  the  same  thing  again. 
Accordingly  I  went.  Half  a  dozen  brethren,  and  forty 
or  fifty  sisters  were  present.  The  old  man  called  me  to 
him,  beside  the  Communion  table,  and  asked  me  to  tell 
those  present  what  the  Lord  had  done  for  me.  As  there 
was  no  other  candidate,  he  wished  me  to  be  particular 
in  my  relation.  I  enjoyed  great  liberty  of  speech;  my 
soul  was  lifted  up  as  upon  the  wings  of  a  dove,  and  I 
felt  as  if  I  should  stay  a  very  short  time  upon  earth. 
With  a  melting  heart  I  recounted  all  the  way  in  which 
the  Lord  my  God  had  brought  me  out  of  darkness  into 
His  marvellous  light ;  and  the  narrative  was  responded 
to  by  sobs  and  tears  from  many  of  those  who  were  pre- 
sent. The  pastor  asked  but  one  question — when  I 
wished  to  be  baptized  ?  I  replied,  to-morrow.  He  said 
it  was  too  cold ;  the  ice  was  thick,  and  he  was  lame  with 


LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE.  89 

rheumatism.  Several  members  said — '  Oh  !  try,  Brother 
Richards;  we  have  not  had  one  baptism  for  so  many 
months  past.'  He  consented.  Many  came  and  took  me 
by  the  hand,  and  bid  me  God-speed.  Some  said,  '  We 
have  not  heard  such  a  sermon  as  your  experience  in 
many  a  year;  the  Lord  will  make  a  preacher  of  you.' 
On  Saturday  morning,  February  4th,  1814,  I  was  bap- 
tized in  the  Patapsco,  by  Elder  Lewis  Richards,  the  ice 
having  been  cut  for  the  purpose.  It  was  more  than  a 
foot  thick,  and  the  spectators,  with  many  of  my  old 
companions  among  them,  stood  on  the  ice  within  a  few 
yards  of  where  I  was  buried,  and  went  away  saying, 
'  He  is  mad  ;  he'll  not  stick  to  that  long.' 

"  In  coming  out  of  the  water,  I  felt  a  strong  desire  to 
tell  to  all  around,  what  a  dear  Saviour  I  had  found,  but 
my  sense  of  propriety  prevented  me  from  speaking." — 
Phonographic  JReport  of  Sermon  to  the  Young,  Jan., 
1844. 

Upon  the  8th  of  the  same  month,  he  wrote  to  his 
sister  Amelia : — 

"  I  gave  in  my  experience  to  the  members  of  the 
first  Baptist  Church  on  Friday  afternoon  last.  A 
number  of  women  were  present,  and  my  recital,  which 
so  clearly  demonstrated  that  salvation  is  all  of  grace, 
and  not  of  works  least  we  should  boast,  affected 
them  so  much  that  I  could  see  scarcely  a  dry  eye  around 
me. 

"  Gratitude  and  thankfulness  to  God  for  what  he  had 
done  for  my  soul ;  for  that  blood-bought,  free  reward, 
that  golden  harp,  strung  and  tuned  for  endless  years,  to 
sound  in  the  Father's  ears  the  name  of  the  Lamb  that 
was  slain,  which  he  had  given  to  unworthy  me,  so 
wrought  upon  my  feelings  and  overcame  my  heart,  that 
tears  of  joy  and  love  continually  interrupted  my  utter- 
ance.    All  present  were  so  fully  satisfied  that  the  Lord 


90  LIFE   OF    SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

had  commenced  the  good  work,  and  that,  therefore, 
according  to  his  gracious  promise,  he  would  complete  it 
till  the  great  day,  and  seal  my  soul  with  the  atoning 
blood  of  the  everlasting  covenant,  that  not  a  question 
was  proposed  by  a  single  member,  but  all  received  me 
gladly.  On  Saturday,  between  twelve  and  one  o'clock, 
1  was  baptized.  The  ice  was  so  thick  that  a  number  of 
spectators  stood  upon  it,  round  about  the  grave  in 
which,  I  trust,  the  '  old  man'  was  buried.  The  day 
was  cold  but  clear,  and  although  the  water  froze  upon 
the  clothes  of  those  who  cut  away  the  ice,  yet  I  felt  a 
glow  of  warmth  and  animation,  unwonted  and  unknown 
before,  even  while  buried  beneath  the  wave.  Oh,  'twas 
a  happy,  happy  sensation  ! — Next  in  order  to  that  beati- 
fic moment  when  I  heard  my  Jesus  say — '  Go  in 
peace !  Thy  sins  which  are  many,  be  all  forgiven  thee  !' 
On  Sunday  I  was  received  into  the  church  by  the 
imposition  of  hands,  and  admitted  to  commune  with 
saints." 

On  the  10th  of  the  previous  May  he  had  been  married, 
by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Kemper  of  Philadelphia,  to  Miss  Sally 
Wallace  Morrell,  the  daughter  of  Robert  Morrell  and 
Mary  Price.  At  the  time  of  their  marriage — Miss 
Morrell  was  a  strict  Episcopalian — as  far  as  form  went — 
and  like  all  decided  formalists,  very  intolerant  of  every 
other  form  ;  considering  dissenters  from."  High  Church," 
indeed,  as  little  better  than  dangerous  and  desperate 
rebels  against  all  truth  and  goodness.  This  explains  the 
expression  which  he  uses — "  My  dear  young  wife 
thought  I  was  going  mad."  It  appeared  to  her,  if  not 
absolute  insanity,  the  very  height  of  unreasonableness 
and  delusion.  She  could  not  understand  how  a  man  of 
excessive  animal  spirits  ;  the  liveliest  of  companions,  full 
of  anecdote,  quip,  and  crank ;  the  soul  of  every  gay 
society,  should  adopt  a  faith,  and  ally  himself  to  proles- 


LIFE   OF    SPENCER    HOUGHTON   CONE.  91 

sors  of  a  form  of  religious  belief  considered  by  the  world 
puritanical  and  straight-laced,  refusing  to  mix  in  public 
amusements,  forbidding  the  theatre,  the  ball-room,  or 
race  course — forbidding  everything,  in  fact,  which  the 
high  church  Episcopalians  considered  innocent  recrea- 
tion. The  idea  even  that,  he  was  in  earnest  forced  itself 
very  slowly  into  her  mind. 

How  often  has  she  told  over,  with  a  quiet  humor 
which  was  natural  to  her,  the  secret  rage  and  astonish- 
ment of  her  heart.  She  loved  him  too  well  to  exhibit 
anything  but  the  latter,  whilst  the  former  was  absolutely 
stifling  her.  He  would  go  to  the  place  now  so  dear 
to  him,  the  place  where  a  little  band  of  despised  people 
called  Baptists,  assembled  themselves  together  for 
prayer  meeting  twice  a  week.  She  could  not  bear  to  be 
away  from  him.  She  must  be  where  she  could  see  him. 
So  she  would  follow  him,  and  take  her  seat  away  back 
in  some  dark  corner,  and  watch  and  listen,  to  try  and 
find  out  what  could  be  the  attraction  to  such  a  dull  and 
gloomy  place.  The  plain  Baptist  folk,  for  the  church  was 
very  feeble  then  in  Baltimore,  and  few  wealthy  people 
belonged  to  it,  saw  with  no  small  wonder  a  woman  gaily 
dressed,  glide  in,  and  hide  herself  away  in  the  remotest 
corner  of  the  room.  But  she  took  no  heed  of  them.  She 
had  eyes  only  for  the  one  amongst  them,  whose  conduct 
seemed  so  wild  to  her.  It  was  a  hard  trial.  It  seemed 
as  if  a  wall  was  being  built  up  between  them.  Why 
should  he  love  anything  but  her  ?  she  loved  him  wholly. 
What  magic  was  there  in  religion  that  it  should  win 
away  from  her  even  a  part  of  his  attention  ?  What  was 
there  in  the  Bible  that  he  should  pore  over  it  all  the 
while  at  home,  and  never  talk  as  he  used  to  do.  He 
was  kind,  kinder,  and  tenderer,  if  possible,  than  ever — 
but  so  absorbed,  so  wrapped  up  in  this  new-found  faith, 
that  he  did  not  seem  to  belong  any  more  to  her  or  to  the 


92  LIFE    OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON    CONE. 

world.  And  so  by  stealth,  for  her  pride  forbade  to  do  it 
openly,  she  took  the  Bible  and  pored  over  it  to  see  if 
she  could  find  out  the  strange  secret  of  its  fascination. 

Thus  the  beautifiu  mystery  of  woman's  love  led 
upwards  to  the  divine  mystery  of  a  Saviour.  Is  He  not 
wonderful  in  working,  and  His  ways  past  finding  out  ? 

But  it  was  the  mother  who,  beside  her  baby's  cradle, 
had  laid  hold  upon  the  future  with  such  a  lofty  and 
serene  faith,  as  rose  almost  into  the  dignity  of  prophecy  ; 
who  had  never  doubted,  and  therefore  never  felt  any 
sacrifice  hard,  which  could  fit  him  for  her  Master's  work, 
to  whom  that  Master,  in  the  tenderest  of  His  mercies, 
again  committed  her  darling,  new  born  out  of  the  world, 
her  child  and  God's.  Oh  happy  child  !  from  the  same 
lips  which  taught  him  honor  first,  and  how  to  live  for 
man,  to  learn  the  holier  lesson  of  a  Christian's  life,  and 
how  to  live  for  God :  to  clasp  her  hand  in  his,  and  lay 
his  head  upon  his  Saviour's  breast — her  brother  and  her 
son ! 

The  news  of  his  struggles,  his  doubts,  his  fears, 
brought  her  to  him  on  wings  of  anxious  love,  and  how 
she  sped,  being  there,  his  words  discover  : 

"Mother's  company  and  conversation  were  always 
very  highly  prized,  but  for  some  weeks  they  have  indeed 
been  of  inestimable  value  to  me !  When  grief  and 
despair  have  almost  overwhelmed  my  sin-sick  soul,  she, 
like  my  guardian  angel,  has  encouraged  me  to  press 
forward  with  increased  ardor,  and  make  my  calling  and 
election  sure.  She  has  often  wept  over  her  poor  boy, 
but  with  God's  blessing,  purchased  by  the  dear  Redeem- 
er's blood,  her  tears  for  me  shall  not  henceforth  be  tears 
of  bitterness  and  anguish,  but  of  holy  joy.  I  have  been 
enabled  to  look  back  upon  my  past  life,  and  I  trust  with 
seeing  eyes  and  an  understanding  heart ;  But  oh  !  what 
a  gloomy  retrospect !  not  one  single  hour  well  spent ;  no, 


LIFE   OF    SPENCER   HOUGHTON    CONE.  93 

not  one  solitary  moment  dedicated  to  the  honor  and 
glory  of  Him  who  came  into  the  world  and  died  to  save 
sinners.  But  did  He  die  to  save  a  wretch  like  me  ?  Oh, 
that  dreadful  negative  which  my  fears  and  crimes  so 
irresistibly  suggest.  Like  an  unstable  traveller,  tumb- 
ling from  some  icy  precipice's  awful  peak,  so  have  I,  for 
many  long  years,  been  falling  into  the  bottomless  pit. 
A  Saviour's  arm  alone  can  redeem  me  from  destruction 
In  the  gall  of  bitterness  and  bond  of  iniquity  I  can  only 
cry  aloud  for  mercy  and  pardon.  Is  there  no  balm  in 
Gileacl.  is  there  no  physician  there  ?  Are  not  you  one 
of  the  Good  Shepherd's  flock,  and  will  not  your  prayers  be 
heard  ?  Join  with  me  then,  thou  whom  consanguinity  has 
named  my  brother,  and  let  us  pray  earnestly  and.  without 
ceasing,  that  I  be  not  a  cast- away.  Fare  thee  well!  I 
am  ill  at  ease,  and  cannot  give  you  even  a  faint  idea  of 
what  is  passing  within  me.  A  greater  than  Gabriel 
must  protect  me  or  I  perish." 

Thus  he  pours  out  the  anguish  of  his  soul,  when  first 
awakened,  to  his  only  brother  Joseph,  who  not  long 
before  had  experienced  a  change  of  heart,  and  united, 
with  the  church  in  Philadelphia.  Indisposition  the  bro- 
thers were  very  dissimilar.  Spencer  was  eager  and  rest- 
lessly active  ;  neither  mind  nor  body  ever  seemed  at  rest. 
He  rarely  sat  down,  even  in  the  house.  When  studying, 
his  books  would  be  laid  open  upon  his  table,  and  after 
bending  down  and  reading  with  the  greatest  rapidity, 
he  would  pace  the  room  backwards  and  forwards,  from 
side  to  side,  for  hours.  He  hardly  ever  made  a  head,  or 
memorandum  of  any  sort  for  speech,  lecture,  or  sermon, 
.but  arranged  it  all  mentally.  This  habit  created  a 
second  habit  of  talking  aloud  to  himself  when  alone, 
and  in  his  talk,  even7  thought,  no  matter  how  opposite 
from  the  main  subject  of  his  consideration,  shaped  itself 
instantly  into  words.     Thus  as  he  walked  rapidly  up  and. 


9i  LIFE    OF    SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

down  could  be  heard  texts  of  Scripture ;  a  line  of  a 
hymn;  an  opinion  of  some  man's  character;  a  word  of 
advice  to  another ;  a  sentence  of  a  criticism  on  the 
character  of  a  new  book ;  a  snatch  of  some  old-timed 
song ;  a  queer  anecdote ;  a  burst  of  eloquent  declama- 
tion, or  passionate  appeal — all  heterogeneously  mingled, 
and  rolling  over  each  other  like  the  waves  of  a  single 
stream,  which  carries  down  with  it  in  its  course  what- 
ever, whether  precious  or  worthless,  is  loosened  from 
the  banks  and  swept  onwards  by  its  hurrying  waters. 
He  has  been  heard  thus  to  deliver  whole  passages, 
which  he  has  re-delivered  in  public  weeks  afterwards 
verbatim,,  although  meanwhile  he  may  have  preached  or 
spoken  on  twenty  different  occasions.  His  memory 
was  in  fact  marvellous,  and  cultivated  and  trained  so 
perfectly  that  it  had  the  accuracy  of  some  fine  machine, 
always  obeying  implicitly  the  direction  given  it,  and 
acting  according  to  the  degree  of  power  applied.  Thus 
although  he  commonly  read  standing,  and  seemed  to  do 
little  more  than  run  his  eye  over  the  page,  like  one  in 
search  of  a  particular  passage,  he  would  throw  by  a 
book  on  subjects  with  which  he  was  conversant,  and  if 
questioned  about  it,  compress  its  whole  argument  into  a 
dozen  pithy  sentences.  Read  it  yourself,  and  it  seemed 
an  enigma,  not  only  how  he  had  got  at  all  that  was  in  it 
in  such  a  space,  but  often  why  any  one  should  have  used 
so  many  words  to  say  what  could  be  put  in  so  few. 

Joseph,  his  younger  brother,  was  on  the  contrary  a 
mild  and  retiring  man,  of  elegant  reading  rather  than 
profound  knowledge — an  artist  by  nature  and  choice. 
He  evinced  an  extremely  early  tendency  to  painting, 
and  would  steal  away  and  shut  himself  up  anywhere 
alone  with  his  little  box  of  water  colors  and  his  brush — 
forgetful  of  everything  else.  Spencer  was  obliged  daily 
to  take  them  away  from  him  in  order  to  make  him 


LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE.  95 

attend  to  his  ordinary  lessons.  But  nature  had  sriven 
him  his  bent ;  education  could  not  warp  it,  and  lie 
became  a  painter  and  engraver.  As  the  latter  he 
ranked  amongst  the  best  in  the  United  States  twenty- 
five  years  ago.  He  was  mild  and  retiring,  as  we  have 
said,  in  manner.  It  was  a  moral  quietness  however,  and 
extended  no  further  than  a  distrust  of  his  own  capacity 
for  public  life.  He  had,  what  is  very  common  in  unas- 
suming men,  an  indomitable  courage,  and  a  hatred  of 
every  kind  of  oppression,  which  the  least  circumstance 
would  arouse  into  fiery  energy.  His  brother  used  to 
say  that  until  he  was  over  twenty-one  he  never  expected 
to  find  him  alive  at  the  day's  close  ;  since,  if  walking 
through  the  streets,  he  happened  to  see  any  one  in  trou- 
ble, he  was  morally  certain  to  jump  into  the  middle  of 
the  fight,  without  stopping  to  ask  a  question,  and  either 
hazard  a  night  in  the  lock-up,  by  flogging  the  aggressor, 
or  be  brought  home  himself  thoroughly  well  bruised 
and  disfigured.  On  several  occasions  his  brother 
Joseph's  absence  from  home  became  alarming ;  often 
anxious  search  found  him  lying  by  the  wall  of  the  State 
House  yard,  or  elsewhere,  beaten  into  insensibility. 
They  both,  in  fact,  inherited  what  we  may  call  the 
instinct  of  fight,  and  Spencer  could  never  hear  a  tale  of 
battle  or  of  heroism  without  his  eye  dancing  and  his 
nostril  dilating  with  eager  sympathy.  All  the  mastery 
of  a  powerful  will,  and  the  control  of  divine  grace  MTere 
necessary  to  curb  the  natural  fire  and  impetuous  bra- " 
very  of  his  character.  He  was  naturally  fitted  for  a 
soldier,  equally  cool  and  reckless,  for  the  sentiment 
of  physical  fear  was  unknown  to  him ;  it  was  not  in 
his  nature,  and  he  had  in  reality  no  sympathy  for 
man  or  woman  who  felt  it.  With  that  divine  controller 
of  his  thoughts  and  actions,  the  love  of  Christ  constrain- 
ing him,  he  became  the  patient,  quietly  determined,  but 


96  LIFE    OF    SPENCER   HOUGHTON    CONE. 

daring  defender  of  the  truth,  to  whom  "neither  heights 
nor  depths,  nor  principalities,  nor  powers,"  were  obsta- 
cles— if  he  believed  he  heard  the  Captain  of  his  salva- 
tion say,  "forward!" 

We  present  this  feature  of  his  character  strongly, 
because  it  was  truly  his  great  characteristic  as  a  man ; 
and  without  keeping  it  in  view,  it  would  be  impossible 
rightly  to  understand  his  conduct,  either  as  a  man  or  a 
Christian.  It  resulted  naturally  from  this  quality  of 
mind,  that,  having  thought  and  reasoned  out  a  principle, 
he  squared  his  life  and  actions  by  it,  and  never  compro- 
mised it  for  the  sake  of  expediency  either  for  friend  or  foe. 
He  said,  therefore,  constantly — "  such  an  one  would  have 
me  do  this,  and  such  another  that,  because  it  is  expedient. 
But  is  it  true?  Our  God  is  truth!  Can  we  serve  an 
expedient,  when  he  shows  us  a  truth?  I  do  not  know 
what  other  men  dare  do  ;  but  I  dare  not  do  it.  I  dare 
not  disobey  a  "  thus  saith  the  Lord."  If  I  am  unfaithful 
in  a  little  thing,  what  right  have  I  to  expect  that  his 
grace  will  keep  me  faithful  in  the  weightier  matters  of 
the  law  ?  Is  baptism  immersion  ?  Then  I  must  preach 
it,  for  woe  is  me  if  I  preach  not  the  Gospel.  And  if  it 
is  right  to  preach  it,  is  it  not  right  to  print  it?  Let  God 
be  true  but  every  man  a  liar." 

Of  his  brother  Joseph,  from  whom  our  subject  has 
necessarily  diverted  us,  we  shall  speak  more  largely  at 
a  future  period. 

Peace  and  hope  no  sooner  enter  and  take  possession 
of  Spencer's  soul,  than  it  is  filled  with  anxiety  for  his 
brethren  and  sisters  after  the  flesh,  who  are  yet  out  of  the 
ark  of  safety : 

"  Oh  !"  he  exclaims,  "  how  my  poor  heart  bleeds  for 
my  sisters.  May  they  be  enabled  to  flee  from  the  wrath 
to  come.  May  the  Lamb  of  God,  who  taketh  away  the 
sins  of  the  world,  melt  our  obdurate  souls,  and  inspire 


LIFE   OF    SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE.  97 

them  with  an  insatiable  thirst  for  that  glory  which  passeth. 

all  understanding,  and  which  fadeth  not  away.  Eliza, 
Amelia.  Martha,  my  sisters,  oh!  my  sisters!  can  you 
contemplate  the  torments  of  the  damned  which  are  ever- 
lasting— the  felicity  of  true  believers  which  is  eternal — 
and  yet  calmly  sit  down,  without  an  endeavor  to  avoid  the 
fate  of  the  one,  or  secure  the  lot  of  the  other?  Are 
your  obdurate  hearts  insensible  to  fear?  Be  it  so.  Say 
'tis  a  base,  unmanly  emotion,  beneath  the  august  dignity 
of  our  nature.  I  agree  with  you.  Have  you  neither 
gratitude  nor  love?  You  dare  not  say  no,  for  they  are 
the  ennobling  features  of  the  human  mind.  Let  me 
then  point  out  an  object  worthy  their  entire,  their  undi- 
vided exercise.  Emmanuel  bleeding  upon  the  cross,  and. 
expiring  in  agonies  for  lost  sinners;  that  all  who  look 
on  him  with  eyes  of  faith  might  be  saved  from  the 
unutterable  woe  their  crimes  deserve.  Can  }'ou  turn 
away  your  eyes  from  this  soul-redeeming  Saviour,  who 
died,  that  you  might  live ;  this  great  Captain  of  our 
Salvation,  who  was  made  perfect  through  suffering; 
who  was  scourged,  and  scoffed,  and  spit  upon,  for  you 
■ — even  for  you — that  the  stern  justice  of  the  immutable 
God  might  be  satisfied ;  that  the  utmost  rigor  of  the 
law  might  be  complied  with,  and  a  way  thereby  devised 
to  bring  many  sons  to  glory  ?  Why  need  I  add  more? 
You  will  not  close  your  eyes  till  the  tears  of  penitence 
stream  down  your  cheeks,  and  your  cry  shall  be — 'Lord, 
what  shall  we  do  to  be  saved  V  " 

Nor  was  it  strange  he  should  be  so  anxious  for  them. 
He  was  so  happy  himself,  and  as  he  had  shared  all 
other  happiness  with  them,  it  was  terrible  to  feel  they 
eonld  not  partake  with  him  in  the  greatest  of  all.  "  I 
am  so  happy,"  he  exclaims,  "I  can  scarcely  refrain 
from  prostrating  myself  upon  my  face,  and  crying — '  Oh  ! 
the  wonderful  grace  of  God — oh!  the  matchless  love 

5 


98  THE   LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

of  Jehovah  Jesns !'  To  me  it  has  indeed  been  match- 
less. He  has  built  me  up  in  the  faith.  My  hope  is  sure 
and  steadfast.  My  soul  feels  as  it  were  indeed  sealed 
with  the  Holy  Spirit  unto  the  day  of  the  Lord.  No 
clouds  or  doubts  have  interfered  to  overshadow  its  anti- 
cipated felicity,  or  eclipse  that  beam  of  heavenly  light 
with  which  the  great  Captain  of  our  Salvation  has 
deigned  to  illume  my  once  benighted  mind.  Oh! 
Lamb  of  God !  My  Friend,  my  Guardian,  my  Guide, 
my  Saviour,  my  All-in- All — from  beginning  to  end — - 
grant  me  grace  to  love  and  adore  Thee  as  I  ought.  And 
yet  the  world,  pretends  to  ridicule  sensations  so  delight- 
ful, so  heavenly,  and  pity  our  fancied  delusions.  Poor 
wretches,  we  need  not  their  pity.  We  have  an  interest 
in  One  who  is  preparing  for  us  mansions  of  eternal  bliss, 
and  crowns  of  never-fading  glory  !" 

And  therefore  he  will  not  let  them  be.  He  must  be 
instant  in  season  and  out  of  season  with  them.  He 
keeps  the  one  thing  needful  ever  before  their  eyes  ;  meets 
all  their  objections,  urges  every  motive,  combats  every 
doubt.  . 

"  My  dear  sister  " — to  one  of  them — "  I  know  you 
cannot  force  an  entrance  into  the  sheepfold  of  Christ, 
and  should  you  climb  over  the  sides,  or  enter  in  any 
other  way  than  by  the  door,  the  Word  of  God  declares 
you  to  be  a  thief  and  a  robber.  All  who  enter  the  hea- 
venly Canaan  must  come  in  through  Christ  Jesus,  who 
is  the  way,  the  truth,  and  the  life.  But  remember,  God 
is  jirst  and  merciful,  and  has  proved  it  even  to  you. 
You  have  a  desire,  you  say,  an  ardent  desire,  to  love 
and  fear  him.  Was  it  not  his  mercy  that  implanted 
that  desire  in  your  heart,  for  I  doubt  not  you  can 
remember  a  time  when  you  had  not  even  a  wish  to 
be  made  acquainted  with  spiritual  things?  7Tis  not  in 
your  own  nature,  therefore,  but  entirely  of  grace,  that 


LIFE   OF   SPENCER,   HOUGHTON   CONE.  99 

you  have  ever  been  led  to  reflect  upon  the  inexpressi- 
ble value  of  your  immortal  soul.  God's  justice  is 
apparent  in  this — you  cannot  be  pardoned  but  by  the 
washing  of  the  blood  of  the  Lamb ;  your  sins  must  be 
atoned  for,  and  righteousness  must  be  imputed  to  you, 
ere  God  can  be  just  in  the  justification  of  a  sinner.  I 
believe  you  feel  your  imperfect  nature,  and  your 
soul's  alienation  from  its  Maker,  and  desire  to  be 
reconciled  to  the  King  of  Kings  and  Lord  of  Lords. 
The  bare  desire  is  something  good  for  which  your  praise 
is  due,  nor  do  I  think  that  ever  the  earnest  and  sincere 
wish  of  becoming  a  follower  of  the  Saviour  was  given 
to  a  single  human  being,  without  its  being  blessed, 
sooner  or  later,  to  their  effectual  calling  and  conversion. 
Beware  of  acting  a  disingenuous  part,  thereby  only 
deceiving  yourself;  saying,  'I  wish  I  were  religions,' 
and  yet  proving  by  every  action  that  you  love  the 
world  and  its  vanities  supremely.  You  can  never  find, 
acceptance  with  God  by  saying  'Lord  !  Lord  !'  Do  deeds 
meet  for  repentance,  praying  continually  for  divine 
instruction  and  guidance ;  for  to  expect  to  do  anything 
aright,  without  imploring  God  to  work  in  you,  is,  to  my 
mind,  the  very  acme  of  infatuated  presumption. 

"  Endeavor  every  evening  to  call  to  mind  the  actions 
of  the  day  :  place  distinctly  before  your  mind  the  errors 
you  have  committed  in  thought,  word,  or  deed,  and 
pray  for  strength  to  avoid  falling  again  into  the  same 
snares.  By  reading  the  Scriptures  and  meditation, 
deeply  impress  your  soul  with  the  awful  truth,  that  your 
heart  is  enmity  against  God — that  you  are  not  subject  to 
his  law — that  there  is  a  fatal  variance  between  you,  which 
must  result  in  your  utter  ruin,  unless  you  are  reconciled 
to  him  through  Christ  Jesus.  Though  }tou  cannot  of 
yourself  work  out  your  own  salvation,  yet  I  would  not 
have  you  content  yourself  with  saying,  '  When  Christ 


100  LIFE    OF    SPENCER   HOUGHTON"    CONE. 

bids  me  coma  I  shall  come.  If  you  really  think  your 
eternal  welfare  of  primary  importance,  you  will  be  found 
reading  and  praying,  and  imploring  God  to  grant  you 
the  influences  of  his  Holy  Spirit,  to  guide  you  in  that 
path  which  shineth  more  and  more  unto  the  perfect  day. 
But  if  you  are  lukewarm,  and  think  you  do  everything 
in  your  power,  by  entertaining  half-formed  wishes  of 
dying  the  death  of  the  righteous,  I  can  recollect  no 
promise  in  God's  blessed  Bible  adapted  to  your 
state." 

For  their  sake,  indeed,  he  is  willing  to  part  from  his 
mother,  though  he  should  see  her  no  more  on  earth. 
"  Buoyed  up  with  the  fond  hope,  that  her  bright  exam- 
ple and  godly  conversation  may  be  blessed  to  you,  I 
shall  part  from  her  without  a  sigh.  I  know  we  shall 
meet  in  heaven,  to  part  no  more  for  ever.  But  when 
death  shall  have  received  his  commission,  what,  I  pray 
you,  will  be  your  sensations,  when  you  reflect  that  you 
are,  by  a  single  stroke,  made  strangers  to  her  for  ever? 
"Where  she  has  gone  you  can  never  come.  Never 
again  will  you  be  permitted  to  look  on  those  eyes 
which  have  so  oft  beamed  upon  you  with  kindness — ■ 
never  again  entwine  your  arms  about  the  body  that 
bore  you,  nor  hang  upon  that  bosom  which  so  long  pal- 
pitated with  affectionate  tenderness  towards  you,  nor 
ever  ceased  to  rise  and  swell  in  fervent  adorations,  in 
anxious  prayer  to  God — to  spare,  forgive,  and  save  her 
darling  children.  Are  you  waiting  to  become  holy 
before  you  come  to  the  Saviour  for  help  ?  Ah  !  my 
loves, 

"  '  If  you  tarry  till  you're  better, 
You  will  never  come  at  all.' 

Remember  Jesus  came  to  call  sinners,  not  the  righteous, 
to  repentance.    All  you  are  to  bring  is  a  broken  heart : — 


LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE.  101 

" '  All  the  fitness  he  rcquireth 
Is  to  feel  your  need  of  hi m.1 

Do  yoa  not  feel  the  need  of  a  Saviour*?  Do  y.ou  think 
it  strange  I  can  part  with  mother  without  grief?  Yet 
such  is  the  tact ;  and  I  think  you  will  not  be  tempted  to 
ascribe  it  to  my  want  of  affection  for  one  of  the  best  of 
women.  Oh,  no  !  I  have  a  nobler  motive.  A  brother's 
prayers  and  tears— the  Gospel's  threatening  denuncia- 
tions .against  sinners— the  hope  of  everlasting  bliss 
bevond°the  grave— are  trifles  light  as  air  in  your  esti- 
mation. 1  am  not  only  willing,  but  anxious,  therefore, 
for  mother  to  return.  Perhaps  you  will  hear  her. 
Peradventure  she  is  the  destined  instrument  by  which 
God  means  to  work.  Oh,  listen  to  her  accents  of  love  ; 
be  guided  by  her  instructions  in  that  path  which  leads 
to  joys  on  high— pray  for  the  influences  of  the  Holy 
Spirit.  For,  rest  assured  that  God  is  a  holy  God,  and 
without  holiness  no  man  shall  see  the  Lord. 

"But  what  can  I  say  to  profit  you ?  If  the  bold  and 
polished  periods  of  Dr.  Staughton,  if  the  eloquent  life 
of  a  beloved  mother,  can  neither  of  them  wm  your  soul 
for  Christ,  there  is  not  much  to  be  expected  from  the 
hasty  reflections  and  imperfect  expressions  of  your 
poor  brother.  But  the  Lord  worketh  by  whom  he  will 
work  ;  and  when  all  these  apparently  great  means  have 
been  found  ineffectual,  lesser  ones  may  be  made  instru- 
mental in  opening  your  eyes. 

"Oh,  let  me  then  once  more  implore  you  to  seek  alter 
Jesus  as  the  hid  treasure."  m 

And  God  indeed  blessed  the  lesser  means;  their 
minds  were  influenced  graciously,  and  not  many  years 
passed  before  he  experienced  the  unspeakable  satisfac- 
tion, of  seeing  two  of  his  sisters  make  a  public  profes- 
sion of  their  faith  in  the  same  Lord  and  Saviour  to  whose 
cause  he  was  dedicated. 


102  LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

One  of  them,  Catharine,  had  long  been  a  member  of 
the  church.     A  happy  family. 

For  some  time  during  the  year  1813,  he  realized  his 
original  scheme  of  teaching.  He  established  an  aca- 
demy  which  was  well  attended.  It  was,  however,  a 
calling  for  which  his  quick  imagination  and  craving 
after  action  very  much  unfitted  him.  The  restraint  and 
confinement  were  insupportable  to  him,  and  he  gladly 
relinquished  it  for  the  more  exciting  and  absorbing 
occupation  of  an  editorial  career. 

A  single  memorial  of  his  school  experiences  in  Balti- 
more is  furnished  by  a  letter  from  the  Hon.  David  J. 
Disney  of  Ohio,  written  in  1843,  and  deserves  to  be 
recorded  : 

"  Accident,"  says  Disney,  "  called  my  attention  a  few 
days  since  to  an  article  in  one  of  our  city  papers  from 
their  correspondent  in  your  city,  in  which  he  describes 
you  and  your  church.  The  simple  notice  recalled  all 
the  recollections  of  my  childhood,  and  the  obligations 
which  I  owed  you.  Again  I  sat  on  the  little  form  in  the 
school-room  in  Baltimore,  and  with  my  well-thumbed 
Caesar  before  me,  glanced  around  at  my  school-fellows. 
Our  boyish  pranks  rose  fresh  in  my  recollection,  and, 
instead  of  the  battered  politician,  I  once  more  became 
the  competitor  for  tops  and  marbles.  Conjugations  and 
declensions  again  perplexed  my  mind.  The  interesting 
story  of  Prince  Le  Boo,  which  I  was  artfully  substitu- 
ting for  the  commentaries  of  the  warlike  Roman,  again 
perished  in  the  flames  before  my  eyes,  by  your  hand. 

"  The  rigid  severity  with  which,  in  the  proper  hours, 
you  exacted  of  me  a  devotion  to  mental  culture,  again 
stood  before  me  in  all  its  original  authority,  and  the 
years  which  have  intervened  vanished  as  with  a  fairy 
stroke. 

"  Since  we  have  parted,  my  boyhood  has  ripened  into 


LIFE    OF    SPENCER   HOUGHTON    CONE.  103 

manhood,  and  I  have  played  a  part  among  the  public 
men  of  our  State — but  the  scenes  of  my  infancy,  and  the 
recollections  of  my  boyhood  have  always  had  a  deep 
abiding  place  in  the  storehouse  of  my  memory." 

It  is  hard  to  fancy  him  a  teacher  of  perverse  school- 
boys. The  effort  to  tame  down  his  spirit  to  the  necessary 
patience  and  routine,  must  truly  have  been  one  of  the 
most  heroic  in  his  life.  Of  all  men  in  the  world,  he  was 
the  least  calculated  for  it  by  nature.  His  mind  was 
purely  creative;  and  his  patience,  only  that  with  which 
a  great  mind  waits  for-  the  development  of  great  events, 
of  which  its  power  was  in  whole  or  part  the  agent.  He 
never  thought  of  or  noticed  the  little  things  which  were 
going  on  about  him  ;  his  power  of  mental  abstraction  was 
complete.  What  a  herculean  effort  it  must  have  been 
for  him  to  abstract  himself,  however,  from  his  own 
nature,  and  watch  a  troop  of  mischievous  urchins — and 
try  to  teach  them.  And  what  a  picture  of  conscientious 
sacrifice  it  brines  before  us ! 


104:  LIFE    OF    SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 


CHAPTER    YII. 

1S11. THE   WAR. 

To  go  back  a  little — early  in  the  year  1813,  the  clouds 
of  war  began  to  thicken  upon  the  horizon.  British 
aggressions  were  multiplied:  our  ships  searched,  our  Hag 
insulted  upon  every  sea,  until  the  measure  of  American 
forbearance  overflowed,  and  the  spirit  of  the  nation  was 
aroused  to  that  heroic  contest  with  the  "  mistress  of  the 
seas,"  the  result  of  which  is  so  finely  idealized  in  the  strik- 
ing figure  of  Pinckney,  where  he  represents  America  ris- 
ing from  the  struggle,  her  head  "  encircled  and  adorned 
by  the  laurels  she  had  torn  from  the  brow  of  the  naval 
genius  of  England." 

Pinckney,  to  whom  Benton,  in  his  "Thirty  Years' 
View,"  accords  pre-eminence  over  all  the  orators  he  has 
known,  was  a  citizen  of  Baltimore.  As  minister  to 
Great  Britain,  he  represented  the  United  States  at  that 
Court  with  rare  capacity  and  decision,  and  returned 
home  on  the  rupture  of  amicable  relationships  between 
the  two  governments,  to  exchange  the  pen  of  the  diplo- 
matist for  the  sword  of  the  soldier. 

His  relationship  to  the  administration  of  Madison,  as 
editor  of  the  government  organ,  in  Baltimore,  brought 
Mr.  Cone  into  frequent  contact  with  Pinckney,  and  a 
warm  and  durable  friendship  ensued. 

Eor  more  than  a  year  Baltimore  and  its  vicinity  was 
in  a  state  of  constant  apprehension,  and  a  descent  upon 
some  point  in  its'  neighborhood,  from  the  British  fleet, 
was  daily  expected.     Mr.  Cone  was,  therefore,  alter- 


LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE.  105 

nately  bv.sy  in  defending  the  Administration  with  his 
pen  from  the  attacks  of  the  Hartford  Conventionists 
and  Federal  anti-war  party,  and  in  drilling  his  company 
of  artillery. 

With  the  natural  devotion  of  woman,  and  her  desire 
to  share  with  the  man  she  distinguished  by  her  unself- 
ish love,  all  his  trials,  Miss  Morrell  consented  that  the 
day  of  their  marriage  should  be  fixed. 

Everything  was  prepared,  and  on  the  13th  of  April, 
1813,  he  writes  to  her  : — 

"  I  am  endeavoring  to  procure  a  house  in  Pitt  street, 
about  two  squares  from  the  printing-office,  and  hope  to 
meet  with  success,  for  it  is  pleasantly  situated,  very  neat 
and  convenient,  and  as  low  as  I  expect  to  find  one.  It 
will  be  ready  to  occupy  on  the  1st  of  May. 

"  I  had  intended  to  procure  several  articles  in  Phila- 
delphia, but  the  British  squadron  is  now  within  forty 
miles  of  us,  and  the  packets  have  ceased  to  run. 

"  The  storm  of  war  will  expose  us  to  many  incon- 
veniences, but  whilst  you  smile  upon  me,  I  shall  never 
complain  or  repine. 

"  If  life  be  spared  me,  I  shall  have  the  delight  of  call- 
ing you  mine  on  Thursday,  the  29th  instant.  And  on 
Saturday  or  Sunday  following  we  must  repair  to  Balti- 
more, unless  I  can  persuade  some  good-natured  friend, 
to  write  a  little  for  me  in  my  absence." 

And  upon  the  20th  of  the  same  month  : — 

"  I  should  have  written  to  John  Morrell  on  Sunday 
last — a  day  I  had  in  a  measure  set  apart  for  the  pur- 
pose— but  the  enemy's  squadron  appeared  off  the  mouth 
of  our  harbor  on  Friday,  and  we  have  been  under  arms 
ever  since. 

"  I  returned  from  the  fort  last  evening,  very  much 
jaded  with  marching  and  loss  of  sleep,  but  I  hope  to  be 
well  again  by  to-morrow. 

5* 


106  LIFE   OF    SPENCER   HOUGHTON    CONE. 

"  We  can  raise  more  than  5,000  volunteers  here  in 
half  an  hour.  So  I  fancy  Jacky  Bull  will  not  think  of 
setting  his  foot  on  shore. 

"  I  shall  be  with  you  at  the  time  proposed." 

Man  "  proposes,"  God  disposes. 

On  the  29th,  the  wredding-party  was  all  assembled, 
except  the  bridegroom.  The  feelings  of  the  bride  and 
anxious  friends  may  be  imagined.  The  ordinary  chan- 
nel of  communication  was  interrupted  :  the  packets  had 
ceased  to  ply  between  Philadelphia  and  Baltimore.  No 
railroad  annihilated  space  and  time,  and  the  inland 
route  was  tedious  and  uncertain.  Nothing  had  been 
heard  from  him  since  the  20th.  There  was  room  and 
probability  for  the  worst  surmises.  An  attack  by  the 
English  might  have  taken  place,  and  Spencer  be  either 
killed,  or  worse,  a  prisoner,  on  his  way  to  experience 
the  tender  mercies  of  English  hospitality  at  "  Dart- 
moor."    Nothing  was  too  dreadful  to  surmise. 

Nor  was  it  until  several  days  after  the  anticipated 
wedding-night  that  a  letter  was  received  from  him, 
dated  the  27th,  and  written  from  Fort  McIIenry,  from 
which,  whilst  the  gay  company  were  waiting  so 
anxiously  for  him  in  Philadelphia,  he  was  as  anxiously 
watching  the  movements  of  the  English  fleet,  his  heart 
torn  with  a  thousand  contending  emotions,  and  his  feel- 
ings towards  the  enemy  of  his  country,  as  may  be  easily 
imagined,  in  no  degree  softened  by  their  untimely  inter- 
ference in  his  own  private  plans  and  hopes.  "  I  know 
not  how  to  write  this  letter,"  he  exclaims.  "  I  can  but 
say  our  regiment  is  on  duty  here  (at  Fort  McIIenry), 
and  I  cannot  obtain  permission  to  leave  the  garrison 
until  we  are  relieved  by  the  6th  Infantry — which  will 
be  in  a  few  days — not  more  than  a  week. 

"  We  are  under  considerable  alarm,  but  I  do  not  think 
there  is  any  immediate  clanger.     Several  ships  of  war 


LIFE    OF    SPENCER    HOUGHTON    CONE.  107 

play  about  in  sight  of  us — "What  their  object  is  we  can- 
not say.  Guards  are  stationed  around  the  camp,  and 
no  one  can  pass  without  a  permit  from  the  Commander. 
Keep  up  your  spirits  this  week.'''' 

Their  regiment  was  finally  relieved  by  the  6th  and  he 
writes  : 

"  I  have  just  returned  from  duty,  very  much  fatigued  ; 
nay,  almost  worn  out.  I  am  distressed  to  find  that,  in 
consequence  of  the  burning  of  Havre  de  Grace,  the 
*  Pilot '  stage  will  not  reach  Philadelphia  on  Friday 
evening.  I  have  therefore  secured  a  place  in  the  mail, 
and  will  reach  Philadelphia  on  Saturday  morning  about 
10  or  11  o'clock.  I  write  from  town,  having  a  furlough 
from  camp  till  six  o'clock  this  evening,  when  I  return. 
A  few  more  days,  I  trust,  and  all  will  be  well.  Banish 
doubt  and  despondency.  What  though  difficulties  should 
oppress,  and  dangers  threaten,  yet — 

"  '  The  simmer  is  coming,  canld  winter's  awa' 
And  I'll  come  and  see  you,  in  spite  of  them  a' ' 

I  live  but  in  the  hope. 

I  shoulder  my  rifle,  or  gird  on  my  sword,  but  to 
drive  off  the  base  marauders,  who  have  had  possession 
of  the  shores  of  the  Chesapeake  too  long.  I  love  my 
country  sincerely  and  ardently.  I  am,  from  conscience, 
an  advocate  of  the  Administration  and  the  present  war, 
and  in  it  I  must  embark  my  life  and  honor,  which  con- 
stitute my  all — Then  war  or  no  war — bread  or  no  bread, 
we  must  set  sail — 


" '  On  the  ocean  of  wedlock, 
Our  fortunes  to  try,' 


and  heaven  I  trust  will  bless  us !" 

After  their  marriage,  the  young  couple  returned  to 


108  LIFE    OF    SPENCER   HOUGHTON    CONE. 

Baltimore.  From  their  marriage  day  to  the  hour  of 
their  earthly  separation,  they  lived  for  each  other,  and 
their  daily  life,  from  year  to  year,  only  served  to  develop 
a  beautiful  and  increasing  tenderness  and  devotion. 
Their  thoughts,  their  interests,  their  hopes,  their  pleas- 
ures, were  one  ;  and  it  is  yet  fresh  in  the  minds  of  all 
who  knew  them,  how  holy  an  example  of  fidelity  to 
"  the  vows  they  breathed  in  marriage "  was  presented 
for  forty  years,  and  how  happy  an  influence  was  exerted 
by  it  upon  the  social  relationships  of  the  church,  and. 
the  feelings  and  principles  of  the  young.  Dignifying 
their  union  by  unvarying  consistency  of  conduct  and 
delicacy  of  attention  towards  each  other,  they  came  to  be 
universally  cited,  even  by  careless  and  worldly  men,  as  an 
illustration  of  the  happiness  which  might  exist  in  mar- 
ried life,  and  how  practically  it  exemplified  a  Christian 
profession. 

Events  now  marched  with  rapidity. 

Early  in  August,  1814,  the  English  fleet,  commanded 
by  Admiral  Sir  Alexander  Cochrane,  appeared  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Patuxent,  and  their  motions  threatened  a 
descent.  All  the  available  troops  in  the  neighborhood 
were  put  in  motion  to  meet  him.  The  land  forces  of 
the  English,  on  board  their  transports,  were  commanded 
by  Major  General  Ross.  The  American  troops,  princi- 
pally raw  militia,  were  placed  under  the  orders  of  Major 
General  Winder,  a  well-educated,  but  vacillating  and 
inefficient  soldier.  The  regiment  to  which  Mr.  Cone 
belonged  was  put  "en  route"  from  Baltimore,  and 
reached  Bladensburg  in  time  to  share  the  disas- 
trous fortunes  of  that  day  of  shame — a  day  which  left  so 
dark  a  stain  upon  the  annals  of  American  story. 

Mrs.  Cone  was  necessarily  left  alone  in  Baltimore 
with  her  infant  boy,  then  between  five  and  six  months 
old.      -  * 


LIFE   CF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON    CONE.  109 

Mr.  Cone's  two  sisters,  Amelia  and  Kitty  (Mrs.  lUTor- 
vell),  were  in  Washington.  Mr.  Norvell,  his  brother-in- 
law,  and  partner  in  the  "  Baltimore  Whig,"  was  also 
an  officer  in  the  army,  and  on  duty  in  a  different 
regiment. 

The  English,  under  Ross,  landed  at  a  point  on  the 
Patuxent  and  began  to  ascend  the  banks  of  the  river  in 
the  direction  of  Washington.  A  small  number  of  gun- 
boats, commanded  by  Commodore  Barney,  unable  to 
oppose  the  overwhelming  force  of  the  English  fleet,  had 
taken  refuge  in  the  Patuxent.  On  the  approach  of  the 
British,  by  the  orders  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  to  prevent 
his  boats  falling  into  their  hands,  he  set  fire  to  them  and 
abandoned  them.  Their  crews,  and  a  large  part  of  their 
artillery,  were  safely  withdrawn,  a  circumstance  which 
indeed  saved  the  irregular  force  of  the  Americans, 
shortly  after,  from  complete  annihilation. 

Gen.  Winder,  with  between  three  and  four  thousand 
men,  mostly  militia,  hastily  drawn  together,  took  post 
at  Bladensburg,  and  prepared  to  dispute  the  approach 
to  the  national  capitol. 

The  village  of  Bladensburg  lies  in  Prince  George 
county,  Maryland,  about  six  miles  northeast  from  Wash- 
ington, in  the  midst  of  a  fertile  country.  The  village 
is  still  small,  and  at  that  time  was  composed  of  a  few 
straggling  houses,  which  afforded  a  very  slight  and  inef- 
ficient shelter  from  the  fire  of  the  enemy. 

It  contains  about  four  hundred  inhabitants.  The 
houses  are  some  of  them  brick.  It  lies  between  two 
branches  of  the  Potomac.  The  Anacostic,  or  eastern 
branch,  is  narrow  and  shallow;  nothing  more,  in  fact, 
than  a  small  creek  near  the  town.  The  road  from  Balti- 
more to  Washington  crosses  it  by  a  wooden  bridge. 

The  battle  was  fought  along  the  rising  ground  be- 
yond the  town. 


110  LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON    CONE. 

Major  Pinckney's  battalion,  to  which  Mr.  Cone  was 
attached,  reached  Bladensburg  the  day  before  the  battle 
by  forced  marches,  and  exposed  to  the  scorching  of  an 
August  sun.  Completely  jaded,  and  almost  demoralized 
by  want  of  rest,  bad  food,  and  harassing  marches,  they 
'  slept  where  they  halted,  throwing  themselves  upon  the 
ground,  without  food,  or  fire  to  cook  it.  Everything  was 
disorder,  confusion,  and  ^contradiction.  The  command- 
ing general,  interfered  with  by  the  President  and  Secre- 
taries, issued  orders  which  never  reached  those  to 
whom  they  were  directed,  and  formed  plans  which  no 
one  took  the  trouble  to  execute. 

Thus,  when  the  battle  took  place  the  next  day,  the 
self-selected  position,  and  stubborn  bravery  of 
Commodore  Barney  and  his  marines,  with  some  pieces 
of  artillery,  alone  prevented  the  total  annihilation  of  the 
heterogeneous  force  gathered  about  Washington. 

General  Stansbury's  brigade,  to  which  Sterrett's  Balti- 
more 5th,  and  Pinckney's  Rifles  belonged,  came  in  on  the 
evening  of  the  22d  of  August.  Sterrett  and  Pinckney's 
commands  reached  the  field  the  next  day. 

They  were  fine  troops,  well  disciplined  and  reliable, 
but  the  position  into  which  they  were  forced,  by  a  kind 
of  unaccountable  madness,  reduced  them  to  a  level  with 
the  rabble  of  militia,  whose  wonderful  rapidity  in  retreat 
gave  the  battle  the  name  of  the  Bladensburg  Races. 

Broken  down  by  fatigue,  without  ammunition  more 
than  the  few  rounds  in  each  man's  cartridge  box,  Pinck- 
ney's men  were  pushed  forward  to  occupy  a  high  hill, 
more  than  a  mile  beyond  the  front  of  Winder's  line  of 
battle,  and  cover  the  flank  of  Barney's  battery.  Thus 
exposed,  and  entirely  unsupported,  they  fired  away  their 
ammunition  and  broke.  The  efforts  of  their  officers  to 
rally  them  were  fruitless.  The  whole  American  line 
were  in  full  night,  and  the  panic  had  become  universal. 


LIFE   OF   SPEXCER   HOUGHTON   COXE.  Ill 

The  Baltimoreans  followed  the  general  example,  and 
scattered  beyond  the  hope  of  reorganization.  Three 
times,  however,  with  his  handful  of  men  and  ship's 
guns,  the  gallant  Barney  drove  the  English  back  to 
cover,  and  his  battery  was  only  silenced  when  a  British 
detachment  had  completely  turned  his  position,  and  he 
Aimself  had  received  the  wound,  of  which  he  ultimately 
died,  and  was  a  prisoner  in  their  hands. 

The  strangest  part  of  the  disgraceful  history  is,  that 
the  American  army  ran  away,  before  a  single  man  of 
them  was  killed ;  whilst  the  English  lost  five  hundred 
hilled,  and  an  equal  proportion  of  wounded,  before  Bar- 
ney's position  was  forced. 

The  intention  of  the  British  commander  to  march 
on  to  Washington  was  evident,  and  the  danger  to  which 
its  inhabitants  were  exposed  imminent. 

Giving  the  few  companions  they  could  influence,  their 
route  for  Baltimore,  Messrs.  Cone  and  Norvell  hastened 
to  Washington,  to  effect,  if  possible,  the  timely  escape  of 
Kitty  and  Amelia  Cone.  Kitty  (Mrs  Norvell),  was 
within  a  few  weeks  of  her  confinement  with  her  first 
child,  Spencer,  who  was  in  fact  born  about  a  month 
afterwards,  and  inheriting  the  family  failing,  entered  the 
United  States  army  at  an  early  age,  and  distinguished 
himself  by  gallantry  and  good  conduct  in  the  Mexican 
war.  Passing  unharmed  through  the  terrible  battles  in 
which  his  regiment,  the  3d  infantry,  were  engaged  on 
General  Taylor's  line  of  operations,  he  returned  home  to 
die  at  West  Point  of  dysentery. 

A  few  hours  after  the  battle  at  Bladensburg,  the 
stragglers  from  the  field  came  flying  on  the  wings  of 
fear  through  Washington.  Possessed  with  a  dastardly 
panic,  they  rushed  through  the  city,  spreading,  upon 
every  side,  the  report  that  the  American  army  was 
defeated,   and  the  British  marching  close   upon   their 


112  LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

heels,  to  burn,  plunder,  and  destroy  the  capital.  A 
scene  of  terror  and  confusion  ensued  impossible  to  des- 
cribe. Men,  women,  and  children,  flying  through 
the  streets — everything  open  and  abandoned,  and  ter- 
ror and  uncertainty  depicted  upon  every  face. 

Alone  and  unprotected  Kitty,  and  Amelia  could  only 
follow  the  general  example.  The  marauding  expedi- 
tions of  the  British  fleet  upon  the  southern  coast,  their 
frightful  cruelties  and  excesses,  left  nothing  to  hope  for 
any  one  who  should  fall  into  their  hands. 

Hastily  making  up  a  bag  of  clothes  and  securing 
what  money  they  had,  the  two  helpless  women  prepared 
to  fly.  They  set  out,  not  knowing  whither.  In  the  yard 
of  the  President's  house  they  came  upon  a  fugitive  soldier 
sick  and  unable  to  go  farther.  His  condition  and  words 
heightened  their  terror.  They  turned  in  another  direc- 
tion. Their  way  was  blocked  with  men  and  women  and 
cart-loads  of  household  gear.  No  one  could  assist  them. 
No  one  would  point  out  to  them  their  road,  and  they 
were  strangers  in  the  city.  The  selfishness  of  fear  pos- 
sessed, every  one,  and  each  thought  only  of  himself. 
Thus  they  wandered  helplessly  to  and  fro,  every 
moment  adding  to  their  apprehension  and  bewilderment. 

Suddenly  Kitty  Norvell  catches  a  sight  of  her  brother 
struggling  through  the  press,  and  exclaims,  "  Oh ! 
there's  Spencer." 

Jaded,  covered  with  dust,  and  grimed  with  the  smoke 
of  the  battle ;  his  feather  shot  away,  and  uniform  torn 
with  shot  and  bayonet,  and  covered  with  blood  and  dirt — 
in  spite  of  all,  the  eye  of  the  sister  recognized,  and  her 
cry  of  mingled  agony  and  hope  reached  him. 

At  that  moment  a  militia-man,  one  of  the  heroic  band 
which  had  deserted  the  field  without  firing  a  shot,  offi- 
ciously proffered  his  protection  to  the  ladies,  and  boast- 


LIFE   OF    SPENCEK   HOUGHTON    CONE.  113 

ingly  offered  to  defend  them  from  any  given  number  of 
red-coats. 

Thrusting  the  crowd  aside,  the  young  soldier  reached 
his  sisters  in  time  to  hear  the  offer  of  the  braggadocio. 
With  a  fiery  and  bitter  word  of  contempt,  he  drove 
him  back.  The  man  came  up  again  to  attack  him,  but 
catching  him  by  the  body,  he  exerted  a  physical  power, 
at  all  times  unusually  great,  but  when  nervously  excited, 
herculean,  and  with  a  single  jerk  hurled  him  headlong 
amongst  the  crowd. 

Clasping  his  sisters  to  his  bosom,  he  allayed,  with  a 
few  calm  but  energetic  words,  their  excited  fears.  So 
vivid  was  the  impression  produced  by  the  events  of  that 
and  the  succeeding  days,  that  his  sister  Amelia,  who  is 
our  informant,  recollects  nearly  every  word  and  look 
that  passed  between  them. 

"  Come,  girls,"  said  he,  "  there  is  no  danger.  "We  have 
time  plenty.  Can't  you  find  me  something  to  eat.  I 
am  starving.  I  have  not  had  a  mouthful  of  food  for 
twenty-four  hours,  and  have  been  marching  or  fighting 
the  whole  time." 

By  this  time  Mr.  Norvell,  and  Mclvenzie,  of  Baltimore, 
who  had  followed  him,  joined  the  group,  and  begged 
the  women  to  show  them  where  there  was  something  to 
eat.     They  were  literally  famishing. 

Hastening  back  to  the  house  together,  the  women  found 
and  set  before  them  all  that  was  left  in  the  larder,  which 
consisted  of  a  bowl  of  milk,  and  a  cold  chicken. 

McKenzie,  a  dashing  Baltimorean,  a  brave  and  noble 
fellow,  and  a  devoted  companion  in  arms  of  Spencer  II., 
was  literally  in  rags.  He  had  no  stockings,  and  his 
light  boots  wTere  worn  out  with  marching ;  whilst  his 
gay  uniform  had  been  cut  into  "  looped  and  windowed 
raggedness,"   in  the  desperate  stand  they  had   made 


114  LIFE    OF    SPENCER,   HOUGHTON    CONE. 

around  Barney's  Battery,  to  cover  the  American  re- 
treat. 

Swallowing  his  share  of  the  milk,  and  wrenching  off 
a  leg  of  chicken,  which  he  thrust  into  his  pocket,  he 
left  the  ladies  to  the  care  of  the  two  others,  and  rushed 
away  for  a  moment  amongst  the  crowd,  to  aid,  if  possible 
some  unprotected  fugitive.  That  done,  he  rejoined  the 
little  party.  Their  hasty  meal  dispatched,  they  pre- 
pared to  abandon  house  and  household  stuff  to  the  tender 
mercies  of  the  enemy,  and  walk  away.  Lieutenant  Cone's 
feet  were,  however,  so  blistered  with  marching,  that, 
after  a  while,  he  found  it  impossible  to  use  them.  A 
pony  was  luckily  grazing  in  a  neighboring  field.  Nor- 
vell  caught  him,  and  Cone  mounted  him.  Thus  they  pro- 
ceed upon  their  journey,  Norvell,  Mclvenzie,  and  the  two 
women  walking  by  his  side. 

Stopping  at  the  President's  house,  now  deserted  by 
all  but  a  few  servants,  Amelia  ran  in  and  asked  for  some 
wine  for  the  men.  One  of  the  servants  caught  up  a  bot- 
tle of  wine,  put  it  upon  a  silver  salver,  and  thrusting 
both  into  her  hands,  took  to  his  heels.  The  wine  gave 
them  new  life  in  their  wearied  and  half-famished  condi- 
tion ;  it  supplied  a  strength  which  fcod  would  have  been 
incapable  of  doing,  even  had  it  been  possible  to  procure 
it. 

Thus  refreshed,  they  took  up  their  line  of  retreat 
across  the  Potomac  ;  crossed  the  bridge,  and  proceeded 
without  interruption  for  three  miles. 

Night  was  now  coming  on  ;  the  roads  were  unfamiliar, 
and  straggling  parties  of  the  enemy  infested  the  country. 
The  condition  of  Mrs.  Norvell,  the  exhaustion  of  the 
men,  demanded  rest  and  repose.  They  must  sleep,  if  it 
were  on  the  ground  by  the  way-side.  Halting  the  sad 
little  cavalcade  in  a  sheltered  spot,  the  men  by  turns 
played  the  comforter  and  the  scout. 


LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE.  115 

After  a  little  while  they  discovered,  not  far  away,  an 
old  deserted  mansion,  and  hastened  to  take  shelter  in  it. 
Family,  servants — every  living  thing  had  abandoned  it. 
Everything  also,  either  eatable  or  drinkable,  and  the 
greater  part  of  the  furniture,  appeared  to  have  been 
removed.  They  discovered  afterwards  that  the  house 
belonged  to  Mr.  Wise,  grandfather  of  Henry  A.  Wise 
of  Accomac. 

Desolate  and  comfortless  as  it  was,  it  was  better 
than  a  lodging  in  the  open  field,  and  they  congratulated 
themselves  heartily  upon  being  able  to  house  the  sick 
and  wearied  women  for  the  night. 

After  much  hunting  they  were  fortunate  enough  to 
find  a  light,  and  began  to  explore  every  possible  recep- 
tacle of  food,  happy  if  they  should  discover  anywhere 
a  forgotten  crust  or  two,  to  appease  the  demands  of  an 
imperious  hunger.  Finally,  and  when  they  had  almost 
given  up  in  despair,  and  soldier  fashion,  had  begun  to 
draw  their  belts  a  hole  tighter,  to  stop  the  importunate 
suggestions  of  the  stomach — far  away  in  a  dim  corner 
of  the  garret,  they  came  upon  a  barrel,  in  the  bottom  of 
which  remained  a  few  handfuls  of  wheaten  flour.  A 
fire  was  soon  kindled  in  the  kitchen,  and  the  women 
busy  preparing  a  frugal,  but  to  the  famished  party,  lux- 
urious supper  of  wheaten  cakes,  made  in  the  most  prim- 
itive fashion,  of  flour  and  water. 

The  whole  party,  both  men  and  women,  were  so  com- 
pletely exhausted  that  sleep  seized  them  almost  before 
the  last  mouthful  of  their  meagre  supper  had  been  dis- 
patched. The  bundle  of  clothes,  caught  up  by  the 
women  in  their  hasty  preparation  fur  flight,  was 
spread  down  in  a  corner  for  the  weakest  of  the  party, 
Mrs.  Norvell  and  the  men  threw  themselves  upon  the 
floor  and  slept.  Everything  gave  place  to  the  influence 
of  fatigue,  and  the  reaction  of  a  day  of  fierce  and  con- 


116  LIFE   OF    SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

tirraous  excitement.  Too  spent  and  weaned  to  care  or 
think.  Not  a  man  was  able  to  keep  watch.  Nodding, 
half  asleep,  Spencer  H.  says  to  Amelia  :  "  Mele,  if  the 
British  push  a  column  upon  Alexandria,  ro  burn  the 
city,  they  must  pass  this  house,  they  can't  help  it.  The 
house  stands  so  that  it  must  necessarily  be  seen  by 
them  and  we  shall  have  the  red-coats  beating  up  our  quar- 
ters before  morning.  If  you  can  keep  awake,  go  to  the 
bottom  of  the  garden  occasionally,  and  keep  a  look-out 
for  them." 

When  they  were  all  asleep  Amelia  Cone  stole  quietly 
out,  and  took  her  station  by  the  wall  at  the  lowTer  end 
of  the  garden,  and  there  she  kept  her  watch  all  night 
long.  In  the  distance,  the  burning  Capitol  and  public 
buildings  at  Washington,  sacrificed  to  the  wanton  rage 
of  the  British  soldiery,  and  the  barbarous  policy  of 
their  commanders,  lighted  up  the  sky  with  a  sinister 
and  lurid  flame.  The  silence  of  the  night,  its  loneliness 
and  darkness,  broken  occasionally  by  the  distant  noise 
and  rumbling  of  wheels,  which  fancy  easily  suggested 
as  the  passage  of  artillery  and  baggage-wagons,  or  the 
echo  of  a  musket-shot — fired  by  some  drunken  English 
soldier,  as  he  pursued  his  work  of  outrage  and  plunder 
in  Washington  or  its  environs — all  conspired  to  subject 
the  courage  of  a  young  and  solitary  girl  to  a  terrible 
proof.  She  kept  her  post,  however,  and  played  the 
sentinel,  till  the  first  grey  streak  of  day  stole  upon  the 
darkness. 

The  party  were  soon  awakened,  and  prepared  to 
resume  their  retreat.  The  close  vicinity  of  Mr.  Wise's 
house  to  Washington,  and  the  want  of  provisions,  ren- 
dered it  impossible  to  delay  a  moment  with  safety. 

About  da}dight  one  or  two  of  the  slaves  belonging  to 
the  plantation  had  ventured  back  to  the  house.  The 
pony  is  caught,  and  Spencer  proposes  to  put  him  to  a 


LIFE   CF   SPENCER   HOTJGHTON   CONE.  117 

cart  which  has  been  left  behind  in  the  yard  by  the 
fugitives  from  the  mansion  where  they  passed  the  night. 
The  slaves  refuse  to  allow  them  to  take  the  cart,  and 
attempt  to  prevent  them.  Spencer,  however,  intimates, 
in  his  peculiarly  stern  manner,  that  he  will  have  the 
cart,  or  whatever  else  is  necessary  for  the  service  ; 
tells  them  who  lie  is — that  they  may  report  the  facts 
to  their  master,  and  say  that  Spencer  H.  Cone  of  the 
United  States  Army  has  taken  such  and  such  things  for 
the  service  of  the  government ;  promising,  if  practicable, 
to  return  them  to  their  owner.  Should  he  be  unable  to 
do  so,  Mr.  Wise  must  charge  it  to  the  United  States, 
and  Mr.  Cone  will  certiiy  his  account.  It  is  not  known 
whether  the  property  ever  found  its  way  back  to  the 
right  owner ;  but  no  charge  was  ever  made  for  it 
against  the- United  States. 

Spencer  H.  immediately  set  to  work  and  manufac- 
tured a  harness  of  ropes,  and  put  the  pony  to  the  cart. 
But  the  pony  had  evidently  never  been  in  harness 
before,  and  neither  force  nor  coaxing  could  budge  him 
an  inch.  Go  he  must,  however,  for  Mrs.  Norvell's  state 
would  not  permit  her  to  walk  farther.  Putting  the 
women  into  the  cart  therefore,  the  men  fell  to  at  the 
refractory  pony  for  the  last  time,  and  by  dint  of  whip- 
ping, pushing,  coaxing  and  leading,  got  him  off.  Spen- 
cer H.,  spite  of  the  terrible  condition  of  his  feet,  trudged 
at  his  head.  Kitty  Xorvell,  lying  faint  and  sick  in  the 
bottom  of  the  cart,  raised  her  head,  and  pointing  in 
admiration  to  her  brother's  steady  stride,  conscious  that 
every  step  so  firm  in  appearance  was  an  agony, 
exclaimed  to  Amelia,  "Look  at  the  Christian  soldier!" 
It  was  indeed  an  exhibition  of  the  character.  No  vain 
desire  of  military  glory  had  armed  him  for  the  field. 
Fall  of  an  exalted  faith  in  the  God  of  battles,  and  feel- 
ing that  the  defence  of  the  Republic  was  the  service  ^f 


118  LIFE   CF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

Him  who  had  graciously  made  it  the  grand  theatre  of 
His  mercy  to  His  people,  the  peculiar  place  in  which 
His  truth  expanded  under  the  benign  influences  of 
civil  and  religions  freedom,  to  draw  the  sword  against 
its  invaders  seemed  to  him  as  much  the  duty  of  the 
Christian  as  the  honor  of  the  soldier. 

Thus  they  trudged  along  for  five  or  six  miles.  It  was 
in  the  midst  of  August,  and  beneath  a  southern  sun, 
which  already,  even  at  that  early  hour  of  the  day, 
began  to  dart  upon  them  a  fiery  heat.  The  atmosphere 
was  suffocating. 

Reaching  the  edge  of  a  piece  of  woods,  they  took 
Mrs.  Norvell  out  and  laid  her  in  the  shade  upon  the 
grass  and  strove  to  revive  her.  Hunger  pursued  them. 
The  few  wh eaten  cakes  of  the  night  before  had  served 
rather  to  irritate  than  appease  it.  The  men  exhausted 
threw  themselves  down  in  the  shade  of  the  wood, 
unable  to  proceed.  Kitty  recovering  from  her  faintness 
looked  anxiously  about,  and  discovered,  through  the 
trees  in  the  distance,  something  which  looked  like  a 
house.  A  strange  compound  of  energy  and  mildness,  a 
will  of  iron,  and  a  manner  of  engaging  sweetness,  Kitty 
Norvell  appears  to  have  been  a  woman  of  uncommon 
qualities,  a  Christian  of  rare  humility  and  consistency 
of  character. 

She  insisted  upon  going  to  the  house.  Arrived  at  it 
she  found  only  a  poor  negro  girl.  Kitty,  with  her  sweet 
persuasive  voice,  told  her  they  were  literally  starving, 
and  asked  if  she  could  not  help  them. 

The  black  girl,  ashamed  to  offer  such  poor  fare  to 
white  gentle  folks,  said  she  had  nothing  but  a  piece  of 
pork,  a  bowl  of  milk,  and  an  apple.  Kitty  took  gladly 
what  the  poor  girl  was  equally  glad  to  give,  and 
returned  to  the  wood.  Then  quite  gaily,  miserable 
plight  as  they  were  in,  they  sat  upon  the  grass  and  fell 


LITE    OF   SPENCER   nOTTGUTON   CONE.  119 

to,  Spencer  cutting  the  pork  with  Ins  jack-knife  and 
serving  it  around  to  each,  upon  the  point,  with  impartial 
justice.  Each  took  a  draught  of  milk,  in  turn,  from  the 
bowl,  and  the  apple  falls  to  the  lot  of  Mr.  NorvelJ. 
With  many  heartfelt  thanks  to  the  generous  negro,  who 
refused  peremptorily  to  receive  anything  else  in  pay- 
ment for  her  timely  succor,  they  resumed  their  journey 
through  the  wood.  Penetrating  deeper  and  deeper,  by 
a  road  rough  and  little  used,  except  occasionally  in 
carting  wood,  they  had  reached  the  thickest  part  of  it, 
when  the  sky  is  overcast,  the  wind  begins  to  sigh 
mournfully  through  the  trees,  and  the  thunder  to  mutter 
audibly  in  the  distance.  With  the  rapidity  of  the 
change  incident  to  a  southern  climate,  the  sweltering 
and  motionless  atmosphere  is  changed  to  a  keen  and 
hurrying  blast;  the  sky  grows  black  as  night,  and  a 
tropical  storm  bursts  over  them  in  all  its  terrors.  The 
deafening  peals  of  thunder,  and  the  glare  of  the  light- 
ning, bewilder  them.  The  poor  pony,  shaking  with  terror, 
refuses  to  move.  A  tornado,  the  almost  inevitable 
accompaniment  of  such  a  storm,  and  of  the  terrific 
violence  of  which  the  inhabitants  of  colder  latitudes  can 
form  no  just  idea,  crashed  through  the  wood — passing 
within  a  stone's  throw  of  them,  twisting  up  gigantic 
trees  by  the  roots,  and  hurling  them  to  the  ground  as  if 
they  had  been  straws.  The  road  is  rendered  impassable 
and  the  horse  and  wagon  become  useless.  Drenched 
to  the  skin,  and  almost  dead  with  fatigue  and  excite- 
ment, men  and  women  are  compelled  to  take  to  their 
feet,  and  wander  in  search  of  shelter.  Often  falling 
amongst  the  branches  and  broken  trees,  which  strewed 
the  ground,  and  often  losing  each  other  in  the  blinding 
rain  and  darkness  of  the  storm,  they  pass  a  dreadful 
hour,  in  which  hope  almost  deserts  them. 

At  last,  however,  they  found  refuge  in  a  log  house. 


120  LIFE    OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON"   CONE. 

It  was  the  dwelling  of  a  good  methodist  family.  All 
the  men  of  the  family,  and  all  their  horses  and  vehicles 
of  every  sort,  were  away  with  the  American  army,  but 
the  women  were  at  home.  It  was  enough  for  them  to  see 
the  miserable  plight  of  the  wanderers  ;  more  than  enough 
to  see  the  torn  and  battle-stained  uniforms  of  the  men. 
The  good  souls  turned  every  press  and  cupboard  inside 
out  in  their  haste,  and  gave  them  all  dry  clothes.  Then, 
kindling  a  great  tire  in  the  old-fashioned  fire-place, 
which  was  nearly  as  large  as  a  modern  room,  they  put  on 
an  enormous  tea-kettle  ;  broiled  some  fresh  shad,  and 
heaped  a  table  with  home-made  bread  and  cakes,  and 
all  the  house  afforded — thanking  God  that  he  gave 
them  the  privilege  of  doing  anything  for  those  who  suf- 
fered righteously. 

Poor  Mrs.  Norvell  had  a  narroMr  escajDe  of  it.  They 
laid  her  in  their  best  bed,  and  covered  her  up  warmly, 
and  watched  her  like  a  sick  child.  But  her  strength 
had  almost  failed  her.  For  days  she  lay  half  insensible, 
and  the  little  nourishment  which  could  be  given  her  by 
opening  her  mouth  and  putting  it  in,  a  spoonful  at  a 
time,  barely  kept  her  alive. 

Next  morning,  filled  with  anxiety  for  his  wife  and 
child,  and  uncertain  in  what  direction  the  British  forces 
would  make  their  next  destructive  foray,  Spencer  II. 
left  his  sisters  to  the  kind  care  of  the  Christian  family, 
and  started  off  on  foot  for  Baltimore. 

His  wife,  whom  the  accounts  of  the  disastrous  affair 
at  Bladensburg  had  already  reached,  and  whose  state  of 
anxiety  may  be  imagined,  was  watching  from  her  win- 
dow, and  scanning  every  passer-by,  in  search  of  the 
familiar  face  of  some  of  her  husband's  companions 
in  arms,  to  ask  how  it  was  with  him  At  last,  after 
many  weary  hours,  she  saw  her  husband  coming — alive 
— that  was  all.     She  flew  to  open  the  door  and  receive 


LIFE    OF    SPENCER   HOUGHTON    CONE.  121 

him.  As  he  reached  it,  the  factitious  energy  which  had 
sustained  him  ceased,  and  lie  fell  heavily  into  the  passage. 

When  carried  to  the  chamber  and  put  to  bed,  upon 
drawing  off  his  stockings  the  entire  skin  beneath  came 
off  with  them.  It  was  in  this  state,  walking  as  it  were 
with  every  step  upon  burning  coals,  that  he  had  marched 
for  two  days. 

A  few  days' rest,  and  a  constitution  of  iron,  restored 
him,  pud  he  resumed  the  active  duties  of  the  camp.  At 
the  request  of  Major  "William  ^Pinckney,  and  under  a 
brevet  commission,  he  had  taken  command  of  one  of  the 
companies  of  the  5th  Pifie  regiment,  before  the  battle 
of  Bladensburg.  Its  captain  (Aisquith)  was  absent, 
oa  leave,  at  a  distance,  and  Pinckney  preferred  entrusting 
it  to  a  personal  friend  rather  than  a  stranger.  The 
arrangement  was  afterwards  sanctioned  by  the  War 
Department. 

After  destroying,  in  mere  wantonness  of  malice,  all  the 
public  buildings  at  the  National  Capital,  blowing  up  the 
great  bridge  over  the  Potomac,  destroying  the  rope- 
yards,  itc,  and  rifling  private  dwellings  of  whatever 
portable  and  valuable  things  had  been  left  behind  by 
the  inhabitants,  the  gallant  and  humane  enemy  re-em- 
barked, and  hovered  along  the  coast. 

On  the  27th  of  August,  Captain  Gordon,  in  the  Sea- 
horse, and  a  large  detachment  of  the  fleet,  attacked  the 
defenceless  city  of  Alexandria,  and  levied  a  large  contri- 
bution as  the  price  of  sparing  the  town  the  fate  of  its  un- 
lucky neighbor — Washington. 

The  "  Bladensburg  Pace?,"  as  they  were  not  inaptly 
called,  and  the  bloodless  conquest  of  Alexandria,  inspired 
the  English  commanders  with  the  idea  of  attacking  Bal- 
timore, where  they  pleased  themselves  with  believing 
that  an  equally  amusing  promenade  awaited  them. 
Happily  for  that  city  the  calculation  proved  erroneous. 

6 


122  LITE    OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON    CONE. 

Early  in  September  1814,  the  British  fleet  sailed  np  the 
Chesapeake,  and  about  fifty  sail  anchored  at  a  respectful 
distance  below  the  city. 

Mr.  Cone,  amongst  others,  was  ordered  to  fort  McTIen- 
ry,  and  remained  in  its  neighborhood  during  the  whole 
bombardment,  which  took  place  :n  the  13th  of  September. 
Speaking  of  the  power  of  fatigue  to  blunt  the  feelings, 
we  have  heard  him.  say  that  the  night  of  the  bombard- 
ment, although  it  was  the  first  he  had  ever  seen,  he 
slept  as  soundly  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  fort  as  he 
ever  did  in  his  life.  His  company  had  been  on  active 
scouting  duty  all  day,  and  at  night  lay  a  little  below  the 
fort  at  Whetstone  point,  watching  the  movements  of  the 
enemy,  and  ready  to  report  any  attempt  at  effecting  a 
landing.  Wrapping  his  cloak  around  him,  he  sat  down 
at  the  foot  of  a  tree,  and  leaning  against  it,  watched  the 
shells  as  they  traversed  the  air — making  a  line  of  light 
which  marked  their  course  through  the  darkness  of  the 
night.  Gradually  his  wearied  eyes  closed  of  themselves  ; 
and  amid  all  the  noise  of  the  bombardment  he  fell  into 
a  sweet,  refreshing  sleep.  Several  shells  fell  and  explo- 
ded near  him  during  the  night,  without  disturbing  him. 

During  the  bombardment,  Mrs.  Cone  took  her  eldest 
child  in  her  arms,  and  escorted  by  her  brother-in-law, 
Joseph  Cone,  left  the  city  on  foot,  and  walked  thus 
many  miles,  frail  and  delicate  as  she  was,  before  any- 
thing in  the  shape  of  a  vehicle  could  be  procured.  It 
will  be  readily  understood  that  her  affection  for  Great 
Britain  was  never  afterwards  of  a  lively  character. 
Indeed,  if  any  of  her  race  or  her  husband's  succeed  in 
conquering  a  feeling  against  that  government,  it  will 
be  under  the  influence  of  that  precept  which  teaches  us 
"  to  love  our  enemies,  and  to  pray  for  those  who  despite- 
fully  use  us,"  Memory  and  affection  pull  strongly  in 
an  opposite  direction,  since  few  of  the  men  of  either  race 


LIFE   OF   SPENCER    IIOUGUTON    COKE.  123 

up  to  the  present  generation  but  carried  with  them  to  the 
grave  the  marks  of  British  bayonet  and  bullet.  Readily 
as  we  admit  the  superiority  of  England,  as  a  constitu- 
tional government,  over  her  continental  neighbors,  and 
heartily  as  ye  join  in  love  with  the  free  and  Christian 
spirit  of  her  people  in  peace,  the  memories  of  the  revol- 
utionary times,  and  the  later  events  of  1812 — 14,  must  die 
out,  before  she  can  hope  to  find  sympathy  on  this  side 
of  the  Atlantic  in  her  warlike  operations.  Americans 
always  separate  in  their  minds  the  people  and  the  gov- 
ernment of  England.  Against  the  former  they  have  no 
feelings  of  hostility  ;  for  the  latter  little  love.  An  oli- 
garchy scarcely  less  debased,  effete,  and  arrogant,  than 
that  of  Venice  before  its  final  suppression  by  Napoleon 
the  Great,  it  misrepresents,  in  peace,  the  free  spirit  of  the 
people  it  oppresses  ;  and,  in  war,  stains  their  character 
by  the  follies  and  excesses  it  commands.  Twice  it  has 
plunged  into  war  two  nations  of  the  same  stock,  the 
the  same  blood,  temper — and  we  are  bold  to  say,  the 
same  affection  for  well-regulated  freedom ;  nations 
which  should,  and  if  equally  governed  by  the  will  of  the 
people — would,  go  hand  in  hand,  in  the  exalted  mission 
of  civilizing  and  christianizing  the  world.  It  may  have 
power  to  do  so  again.  If  it  should,  the  mind  recoils  with 
horror  from  the  prospect  of  a  war,  which  the  stubborn 
temper  of  the  two  great  divisions  of  the  Anglo-Saxon 
race,  their  equality  in  wealth,  and  possession  of  warlike 
material,  would  render  perhaps  the  most  sanguinary  and 
destructive  in  the  history  of  the  world. 

During  the  bombardment  of  Fort  Mclienry,  the 
English  threw  over  three  thousand  shells,  without  how- 
ever doing  any  material  injury,  the  fort  being  pretty 
strong  and  admirably  placed,  though  at  that  time  an 
open  work.  The  city  is  built  around  the  basin  formed 
by  a  branch  of  the  Patapsco  river,  and  which  is  nearly 


124  LIFE   OF    SPENCKK   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

two  miles  long,  by  a  mile  and  three-quarters  broad. 
Fort  McHeniy  stands  at  the  point  of  the  peninsula 
which  forms  the  month  of  the  harbor,  and  completely 
commands  the  passage.  Fell's  Point  and  Whetstone 
Point  form  the  termini  on  either  side  of  the  outer 
harbor. 

Finding  it,  impossible  to  force  the  harbor,  or  destroy 
its  defences,  the  English  commanders  determined  to 
land,  and  attempt  to  take  the  town  in  reverse. 

Captain  Aisquith's  company,  commanded  by  Mr. 
Cone,  in  that  gentleman's  absence,  and  the  companies 
of  Captains  Levering  and  Howard,  were  ordered  forward 
to  feel  the  pulse  of  the  enemy. 

It  was  the  12th  day  of  September,  1814.  Between 
five  and  six  thousand  British  regulars  and  marines, 
under  General  Ross,  and  Admirals  Cochrane,  Cockburn, 
Malcolm,  Codrington  and  Napier,  landed  at  North 
Point,  and  proceeded,  without  meeting  with  any  resis- 
tance, about  four  miles  on  the  road  to  Baltimore. 

Here  the  two  companies  of  Sterrett's  regiment, 
Levering's,  and  Howard's,  and  Cone's  Rifles,  had 
taken  post.  The  detachment  was  commanded  by 
Major  Richard  Heath,  and  burning  to  retrieve  the 
honor  of  the  corps,  which  had  been  compromised  by 
the  disastrous  retreat  of  Bladensburg,  they  contested 
the  ground,  inch  by  inch,  against  the  British  advance. 

The  uniform  of  the  "Rifles"  was  a  natural  green, 
which  toned  in  with  the  leaves  or  grass,  and  aided 
materially  to  conceal  them.  They  wore  no  ornaments 
to  catch  the  eye,  or  betray  them,  when  desirous  of  con- 
cealment, by  reflecting  the  sun  or  light.  The  only  mark 
of  the  corps,  except  the  color  of  their  uniform,  if  we 
remember  accurately  Mr.  Cone's  description,  was  a 
silver  bugle  embroidered  on  the  cap-band. 

As  they  were  moving  through  a  field  of  tall  grass, 


LIFE    OF   SPENCER   noUGIITON   CONE.  125 

which,  by  the  similarity  of  its  color  to  that  of  their  dress, 
completely  masked  their  march,  the  quick  tramp  of  a 
troop  of  horse  struck  their  ear.  They  had  just  reached 
the  fence  which  bounded  the  field,  and  the  first  rank 
were  in  the  act  of  climbing  it.  Their  acting  Captain, 
J\Ir.  Cone,  was  far  enough  in  advance  to  catch  the  first 
glimpse  of  the  enemy.  His  quick  eye  told  him  instant- 
ly what  it  was.  Gaily  dressed,  and  glittering  in  all  the 
bravery  of  scarlet  and  gold,  the  troop  of  horse  were 
visible  at  a  great  distance.  Before  his  men  had  cleared 
the  fence  and  formed  in  open  order  for  the  march,  the 
troop  were  near  enough  for  him  to  distinguish  their 
dress,  and  see,  from  the  glancing  of  aiguillette  and 
epaulette,  that  it  was  a  reconnoitering  party  of  general 
officers,  probably  the  staff  of  the  Commanding  General 
himself.  The  party  rode  up  to  a  knoll,  and  halting  upon 
the  top,  busied  themselves  with  their  glasses.  The 
instant  they  did  so  JVIr.  Cone  ordered  his  men  to  fall 
back  along  the  cover,  and  give  the  enemy  a  dash,  for 
the  purpose  of  preventing  their  making  any  discoveries 
as  to  the  position  and  force  of  the  American  troops. 
The  first  platoon  levelled  their  unerring  rifles  and  filed. 
The  volley  was  delivered  with  an  effect  of  which  they 
had  not  dreamed.  The  squad  of  English  officers  were 
in  fact,  the  Commanding  General's  staff.  That  single 
volley  scattered  them,  and  General  Ross  himself  fell 
mortally  wounded,  Great  as  the  distance  was,  the 
American  rifle  performed  its  deadly  work  with  accus- 
tomed accuracy. 

The  brief  interval  of  this  episode  in  the  battle  had, 
however,  afforded  time  for  the  heads  of  the  English 
columns  to  come  into  action.  The  confusion  which 
followed  the  loss  of  their  General,  and  for  some 
moments  left  them  wavering  and  uncertain,  afforded  a 


126  LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

welcome  and  terrible  opportunity  for  the  American 
Light  Troops,  and  the  rapid  fire  of  the  rifles,  every  man 
of  whom  picked  his  man  in  the  opposing  ranks,  and 
marked  him  down  as  if  practising  at  a  target,  opened 
wide  gaps  in  the  English  ranks. 

The  command  of  the  British  forces  was  soon  assumed 
by  Colonel  Brooke,  the  line  pushed  forward  at  "  double- 
quick,"  and  the  American  advanced  guard  driven 
back  upon  the  main  body.  They  fell  back  coolly 
and  in  order,  however,  skirmishing,  and  disputing  the 
English  advance,  with  dogged  resolution.  For  the  first 
time,  the  veterans  of  the  Peninsular  war,  who  had  been 
promenading  the  shores  of  the  Chesapeake,  had  comeface 
to  face  with  picked  and  drilled  American  troops,  and 
the  game  of  war  was  to  be  fairly  played,  upon  an  open 
field,  between  English  stubbornness  and  Yankee  hero- 
ism. Every  charge  covered  the  ground  with  English 
dead.  Their  loss  was  very  heavy,  far  greater  than  they 
ever  admitted  in  their  official  statements. 

The  rifles  of  the  5th,  emptying  themselves  amongst 
the  masses  of  the  English  columns,  committed  terrible 
havoc.  We  have  heard  Mr.  Cone  detail,  with  great 
particularity,  this  part  of  the  battle.  In  retiring,  he 
threw  his  men  behind  a  heavy  winding  fence,  which, 
for  some  distance,  partially  covered  them,  and  enabled 
them  to  make  repeated  and  successful  stands  against  the 
enemy.  It  was  in  an  angle  of  this  fence  that  MacComas 
and  Wells  fell.  Wells  fell  across  Mr.  Cone's  feet,  and 
uttering  the  words,  "  I  am  a  dead  man,  Captain  " — died 
almost  instantly.  The  names  of  these  brave  fellows 
who  sealed  their  patriotism  with  their  lives,  may  be  read 
upon  the  Battle  Monument  in  Calvert  street,  Baltimore. 

The  gallant  stand  of  the  three  companies,  enabled 
the  Baltimore  Brigade,  under  General  John  Strieker,  to 


LIFE    OF    SrEXCER    nOUGHTON    CONE.  127 

get  into  position,  and  when  the  advancing  English  came 
upon  the  main  body  of  the  Americans,  numbering  about 
three  thousand  men,  they  found  it  impossible  to  dis- 
lodge them.  Strieker  had  posted  them  with  skill,  and 
Hanked  by  the  cavalry  of  Colonel  Biays,  and  a  battery 
of  six-pounders  under  Captain  Montgomery,  they  with- 
stood, for  over  an  hour,  the  combined  British  force, 
numbering  more  than  six  thousand  men.  At  no  time 
during  the  battle  were  a  greater  number  than  fifteen 
hundred  of  the  Americans  actually  engaged,  and 
amongst  these  the  weight  of  the  contest  fell  upon 
Pinckney's  Brigade.  The  5th  and  27th  Regiments 
particularly  distinguished  themselves,  by  brilliant  and 
reckless  fighting.  After  an  hour's  severe  conflict,  almost 
hand  to  hand,  the  regiment  of  Col.  Amey  wavered, 
and  finally  broke — leaving  the  American  flank  exposed 
to  be  turned.  General  Strieker  immediately  changed 
front,  and  withdrawing  the  regiments  of  Sterrett, 
McDonald,  Long  and  Fowler,  and  Pinckney's  rifles, 
re-formed  his  line  a  short  distance  in  the  rear  of 
his  first  position,  and  offered  battle  a  second  time. 
Although  outnumbering  his  antagonist  four  to  one,  the 
first  position  had  been  so  gallantly  maintained,  and, 
when  yielded,  the  second  assumed  with  such  prompti- 
tude and  spirit  by  the  Americans,  that  Col.  Brooke  did 
not  dare  to  attempt  to  force  it. 

Thus  a  superior  number  of  veteran  British  troops 
were  brilliantly  defeated  by  a  handful  of  Americans. 
It  is  not  a  little  curious,  too,  to  observe  that  the  weight 
of  the  battle  was  borne,  and  borne  with  dogged  stub- 
bornness and  resolution,  by  the  very  men.  who,  a  few 
days  before,  had  shared  in  the  panic  of  Bladensburg, 
and  yielded  the  possession  of  the  National  capitol  to 
the  invader,  almost  without  a  contest.  The  barbarous 
Bcenes  enacted  there  by  the  English  troops,  the  burning 


J.iib  LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON    CONE. 

of  the  public  buildings,  and  general  destruction  of  the 
seat  of  government,  no  doubt,  exasperated  their  minds 
and  lent  them  stern  reasons  for  defending  their  homes, 
and  firesides  in  Baltimore  from  a  similar  visit  of  mercy; 
but  the  difference  in  handling  had  more  to  do  with  it. 
At  Bladensburg,  regulars  and  militia,  volunteers  and 
amateurs,  were  inextricably  mixed  up  with  Presidents 
and  Secretaries — Generals  without  a  command,  and 
commands  with  a  dozen  Generals  to  each,  and  no  two 
things  agreeing  ;  they  were  without  food,  or  ammunition, 
and  one  militia  regiment  without  JUnts  to  their  muskets. 
At  Baltimore,  or  rather  North  Point,  they  were 
volunteer  regiments,  it  is  true  ;  but  well-drilled  ;  pro- 
perly brigaded — commanded  by  their  own  officers — ■ 
everything,  in  short,  prepared  and  well-ordered.  They 
demonstrated,  therefore,  that  six  weeks'  experience  in 
the  field  makes  as  good  soldiers  of  Americans  as  six 
years  does  of  the  men  of  other  countries;  and  renders 
them  fit  to  be  pitted  against  the  veteran  troops  of  any 
nation.  As  a  battle — that  of  Long  Point  is  very  remark- 
able. It  was  fought  entirely  by  volunteers,  in  the  open 
field,  against  veteran  troops,  flushed  with  a'late  and  easy 
victory.  It  was  a  battle  of  tactics  ;  and  the  American 
combinations  were  carried  out,  and  the  regimental  and 
division  movements  effected  with  admirable  and  almost 
unvarying  precision  and  success — one  regiment  only, 
that  of  Col.  Amey,  failing  to  maintain  the  post  or  play 
the  part  assigned  it. 

Disheartened  by  the  battle  of  North  Point,  and  the 
strong  state  of  defence  into  which  the  city  of  Baltimore 
had  been  put  by  General  Samuel  Smith,  a  veteran  dis- 
tinguished for  his  brilliant  repulse  of  the  English  attack 
upon  Fort  Mifflin,  during  the  Revolutionary  War,  Colo- 
nel Brooke,  and  the  gallant  be\y  of  admirals  who  had  so 
long  been  the  terror  of  all  the  old  women  and  hen-roosts 


LITE   OF    SPENCER    HOUGHTON    CONE.  129 

on  the  shores  of  the  Chesapeake,  commenced  their 
retreat  to  their  shipping.  A  division  of  the  American 
army  under  General  Winder,  consisting  of  Douglas's 
Virginians  and  Borne  regular  troops,  attempted  to  get 
into  his  rear  and  cut  him  off,  but  favored  by  the  dark- 
ness of  the  night  and  the  rapidity  of  his  movements 
Colonel  Brooke  effected  his  escape,  and  re-embarked, 
under  cover  of  the  fire  from  the  British  fleet.  On  the 
next  day  the  English  fleet  formed  in  a  semicircle  at  a 
safe  distance  from  Fort  Mcllenry,  and  shelled  it  during 
the  entire  day  and  night.  It  was  on  this  occasion  that 
Mr.  Cone  lay  near  the  fort  with  his  company,  as  we 
have  already  described. 

At  midnight  several  bomb-vessels,  rocket-boats,  and 
a  large  division  of  barges,  carrying  twelve  hundred  men, 
attempted  to  turn  the  fort,  by  entering  the  Cove  in  its 
rear.  In  attempting  to  pass  the  six-gun  water  batteiy, 
however,  they  were  received  with  such  a  sustained  and 
terrific  fire  of  red-hot  shot,  and  lost  in  a  few  minutes  so 
large  a  portion  of  their  force,  that  they  were  glad  to 
abandon  the  enterprise,  and  fall  back  to  their  original 
anchorage  beyond  the  reach  of  the  American  artillery. 

Nothing  but  the  exhausted  condition  of  the  American 
troops,  and  a  violent  storm  of  rain  which  set  in,  on  the 
night  succeeding  Brooke's  demonstration  against  the 
city,  saved  the  English  army  from  capture  or  annihila- 
tion. 

With  the  embarkation  of  Brooke's  force,  the  cannon- 
ade against  Fort  McHenry  ceased,  and  the  invaders, 
completely  foiled  and  beaten,  relinquished  their  designs 
against  the  city. 

The  battles  upon  the  lakes,  and  general  turn  of  affairs 
in  America,  convinced  the  English  ministry  of  the 
hopelessness  of  further  attempts,  and  peace  was  soon 
after  concluded  between  the  two  countries.   That  it  may 

6* 


130  LIFE   OF   SPENCEK   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

never  again  be  broken,  is  the  earnest  hope  of  every 
true  Christian  and  philanthropist.  In  his  own  language 
at  Baltimore,  in  1841.  We  "  deprecate  war  as  one  of  the 
greatest  of  national  calamities — especially  a  war  between 
Great  Britain  and  the  United  States." 


LIFE    OF    SPENCER    HOUGHTON   CONE.  131 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

FOES   WITHOUT   AND   FEAES   WTTHIN. 

The  war  which  paralyzed  so  many  branches  of  Amer- 
ican industry,  and  spread  its  influences  very  far  beyond 
the  circle  of  its  actual  horrors,  produced  the  most  dis- 
heartening effect  upon  the  fortune  of  the  subject  of  this 
memoir. 

It  was  found  impossible  to  make  collections.  Thou- 
sands of  dollars  stood  upon  the  books  of  the  paper,  but 
scarcely  one  could  be  realized.  In  the  mean  time,  those 
to  whom,  in  the  course  of  business,  the  establishment 
was  necessarily  indebted,  became  pressing  and  clamorous 
for  their  money.  As  every  branch  of  trade  and  industry 
had  felt  the  pressure,  and  suffered  from  the  effect  of 
prolonged  hostilities,  the  relations  of  business  assumed 
the  distressing  aspect,  which  war  or  commercial  panic 
commonly  produce. 

The  pleasant  little  house  in  Pratt  street,  which  Spen- 
cer II.  had  taken  and  furnished  for  his  young  wife,  had 
to  be  given  up.  The  preparation  of  it  for  her  reception 
had  been  at  once  a  matter  of  pleasure  and  sacrifice  to 
him.  Many  of  the  articles  in  it  were  endeared  as 
mementoes  of  friendship.  His  warmest  friend  in  Balti- 
more was  Edward  Priestley,  a  man  of  his  own  age,  and 
a  wealthy  dealer  in  cabinet  ware.  Mr.  Priestley's  house 
was  his  home  in  Baltimore  before  his  marriage.  ^  The 
two  young  men  were  so  near  the  same  size  and  figure, 
that  their  clothes  fitted  either  indifferently.  And 
if  one  happened  to  get  a  new  coat  or  other  article  of 


132  LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON    CONE. 

dress,  the  first  who  got  up  in  the  morning  was  sure  to 
appropriate  it ;  Priestley  vowing  that  Spencer  H.  had 
more  than  his  share,  by  an  abominable  habit  of  rising 
early,  which  he  could  never  acquire. 

The  friendship  which  subsisted  between  them  was 
extraordinary.  Ardent  associates  in  political  principle, 
as  well  as  personal  tastes  and  habits,  they  differed  upon 
nothing  but  religion.  In  the  latter,  unfortunately, 
Priestley  was  a  free-thinker,  and  bitterly  opposed  to  what 
he  styled  "  Methodism,"  in  which  invidious  formula  he 
included  all  profession  of  religious  sentiments. 

Whilst  preparing  his  house  in  Baltimore,  Spencer  H. 
wrote  to  a  friend — "  Ned  Priestley  tells  me  to  take  no 
trouble  about  the  little  things,  for  there  shall  be  nothing 
wanting.     "Was  there  ever  such  a  friend?" 

Mr.  Cone's  conversion  and  strong  religious  convic- 
tions, threw  the  first  chill  over  their  friendship.  Priestley 
resented  his  joining  the  church,  almost  as  a  personal 
wrong,  and  they  gradually  ceased  to  see  or  communicate 
with  each  other,  but  Mr.  Cone  cherished  for  him  always 
the  warmest  sentiments  of  friendship,  and  never  ceased 
to  regret  that  a  mind  naturally  so  fine,  and  a  heart  so 
affectionate  and  good,  should  be  clouded  and  hardened 
by  the  strange  follies  of  Atheism. 

Recollection  of  this  beloved  friend,  and  solicitude  for 
the  state  of  minds  led  astray  by  similar  error,  and  pride 
of  human  reason,  led  him,  as  a  preacher,  to  devote  the 
most  patient  study  to  the  subject;  and  many  of  his 
finest  and  most  touching  arguments  and  appeals,  were 
made  to  combat,  and,  if  possible,  search  out  the  cause 
and  cure  of  infidelity. 

The  pleasant  little  house  in  Pratt  street,  as  we  have 
said,  had  to  be  relinquished.  Everything  it  contained 
was  sold  under  the  hammer,  and  the  money  paid  to  the 
creditors  of  the  paper.     A  large  deficit,  however,  still 


LIFE   OF    SPENCER   HOUGHTON    CONE.  133 

remained,  and  all  the  distresses  of  pecuniary  embarrass* 
me: it  accumulated  around  him.  Mrs.  Cone  returned  to 
Philadelphia  with  her  little  boy,  for  they  could  not  afford 
to  live  together  in  Baltimore  ;  and  her  husband  remained 
behind,  to  struggle  through  his  difficulties  and  secure, 
if  possible,  an  honorable  release  from  the  creditors  of  the 
'•  Whig."  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Norvell  removed  to  Kentucky, 
and  he  was  thus  left  alone  to  bear  the  whole  shock  of 
the  misfortune. 

A  thousand  circumstances  combined  to  render  the 
situation  painful  and  embarrassing.  He  had  had  the 
unspeakable  pleasure,  not  long  before,  of  believing  that 
his  young  wife,  who  had  seen  with  mingled  wonder  and 
incredulity  his  own  conversion,  was  herself  the  subject 
of  saving  grace,  and  her  eyes  open  to  see  the  loveliness 
of  the  path  he  had  chosen.  He  therefore  writes  to  her  : 
"  You  are  now,  my  Sally,  more  exposed  to  trials  and 
temptations  than  you  have  been  for  months  past,  and 
although  you  have  never  been  baptized  and  received 
into  the  church  militant,  yet  I  trust  you  have  been 
buried  with  Christ,  and  risen  to  newness  of  life.  I 
beseech  you,  therefore,  my  beloved,  endeavor  to  walk 
worthy  of  that  high  and  honorable  vocation  wherewith 
you  are  called.  We  who  believe  in  Jesus,  and  profess 
to  be  followers  of  the  meek  and  lowly  Saviour — Oh!  let 
us  never  forget,  whatever  allurements  the  world  may 
set  before  us,  what  manner  of  men  we  ought  to  be  in  all 
holy  conversation  and  godliness.  Be  not  ashamed  at  any 
time,  or  in  any  company,  of  the  Lamb  of  God,  for  of  all 
such  as  are  ashamed  of  Him  upon  earth,  He  has  declared 
he  will  be  ashamed  in  the  day  of  His  power.  Lay  these 
things  to  heart,  and  pray  for  the  influence  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  to  guide  and  direct  you  in  Zion's  road." 

And  again,  a  few  days  after — "  My  love,  how  stands 
the  great  account  between  the  Friend  of  sinners  and  your 


134:  LIFE   OF    SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

soul  ?  Hath  the  Son  made  you  free  from  the  dominion 
of  sin,  or  are  you  still  gratified  with  worldly  pursuits, 
and  unwilling  yet  to  enlist  under  the  banner  of  the 
great  Captain  of  our  salvation  ?  I  know  not  how  nor 
why  it  is,  but  since  you  left  me  I  have  been  severely 
exercised  on  your  behalf.  The  fear  that  the  arch  enemy 
of  souls  had  lulled  you  into  a  false  peace  has  continu- 
ally haunted  me.  Oh,  examine  yourself  strictly,  and 
determine  whether  the  placidity  you  enjoy  be  the  fruit 
of  love  to  Christ,  which  love  alone  can  fill  the  heart 
with  the  peace  that  passeth  all  human  understanding." 

In  addition  to  his  solicitude  with  regard  to  her  reli- 
gious exercises,  his  own  duties,  so  often,  apparently, 
conflicting  with  the  circumstances  in  which  the  mis- 
fortunes of  business  had  entangled  him,  harassed  and 
frequently  clouded  his  mind  with  dreary  thoughts. 
Through  all,  however,  a  strong  and  daily-increasing 
faith  bore  him  up,  and  strengthened  him  to  discharge 
whatever  the  inscrutable,  but  wise,  providence  of  his 
Master  devolved  upon  him.  Needing  consolation  him- 
self, he  consoles  her.  "  Bear  up,  my  beloved  wife,"  he 
exclaims — "  with  all  a  Christian's  fortitude,  against 
impending  evils.  Look  not  at  the  things  which  are 
behind,  but  have  your  eyes  continually  fixed  upon  the 
mark  for  the  prize  of  our  great  high  calling  in  Christ 
Jesus.  Let  not  trifling  cares  disturb  the  peaceful 
serenity  of  your  mind  ;  let  not  even  heavy  burdens, 
however  grievous  to  be  borne,  deter  us  from  obtaining 
the  object  for  which  we  contend.  Do  we  suffer  priva- 
tion of  comfort  ?  The  Son  of  God  was  content  to  lay  in 
a  manger  for  our  sakes :  for  our  sake,  He  submitted  to 
be  buffeted,  and  spit  upon  by  sinners,  and,  at  last,  Oh ! 
inconceivable  wonder !  poured  out  His  precious  blood 
freely  upon  the  cross,  that  He  might  reconcile  us  to 
God.     And  when  this  dear  "Saviour  calls  us  to  suffer  a 


LIFE    OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE.  135 

little  for  Him,  shall  we  grow  restive  and  rebel.  Oh ! 
never!" 

The  desire  to  serve  the  Lord,  and  the  daily-increasing 
urgency  of  the  members  of  the  church  in  Baltimore  for 
him  to  take  part  in  public  worship,  gave  additional  poig- 
nancy to  his  regret  for  the  hindrances  interposed  by  the 
entanglements  of  business.  "  What  shall  I  do  ?"  he 
cries.  "  Shall  I  make  application  for  a  situation  at 
"Washington,  with  the  determination  that  I  will  accept? 
if  not,  shall  I  endeavor  to  make  a  compromise  with 
our  creditors,  in  the  hope  of  being  one  day  able  to  pay 
them  ?  I  cannot  take  the  benefit  of  the  Insolvent  Act, 
while  there  is  the  slightest  prospect  of  liquidating  the 
claims  against  us.  I  am  anxious  to  devote  all  my  life 
to  come  to  my  dear  Lord  and  Master,  but  were  I  to 
shake  off  these  claims,  would  it  wound  His  cause  or 
advance  it  ?" 

And  again — "  My  soul  pants  to  be  engaged  in  the 
work  of  the  ministry  ;  but,  oh !  how  the  way  is  choked 

up  !    Our  creditors,  I  fear,  will  not  compromise  ;  B •, 

to  whom  we  owe  $1,000,  is  obstinate  and  unfeeling;  he 
will,  I  think,  push  us  to  the  last.  'Though  I  have 
friends  to  go  my  security,  yet  to  lie  in  a  jail  a  single 
hour,  and  then  plead  the  benefit  of  the  insolvent  law, 
seems  a  very  hard  task,  if,  by  any  honorable  means,  I 
can  prevent  or  postpone  so  melancholy  a  catastrophe. 
Father,  forgive  me  !  Shall  a  living  man  complain  ?  Oh, 
no !  rather  let  me  rejoice  that  I  have  been  thought 
worthy  to  suffer.  May  our  troubles  work  out  patience 
and  godliness,  and  enable  us,  by  faith,  to  say — '  This  is 
not  our  abiding  city,  we  seek  one  to  come.'  I  dare  not 
promise  when  I  will  return.  I  am  not  my  own  property. 
I  cannot  do  what  my  soul  longs  to  do.  I  must  prevent 
if  possible,  the  breath  of  slander  from  tainting  in  the 
slightest  degree  my  name,  or  how  dare  I  hope  the  Lord 


136  LIFE   OF   SPKNCEK   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

Jesus   will   make   me    a   useful  laborer  in    his   vine- 
yard." 

About  this  time,  and  for  the  purpose  of  enabling  him 
to  relieve  himself,  he  was  offered  the  position  of  super- 
cargo, and  an  interest  in  a  valuable  mercantile  venture, 
by  a  friend  in  Baltimore ;  a  proposition  he  took  into 
serious  consideration,  as  appears  from  several  references 
to  it,  such  as — "  Mention  in  your  next,  whether  you 
have  consented  to  let  me  go  to  Europe  to  better  my 
fortune,  or  whether  dry  land  and  hard,  knocks  have  the 
preference."  As  may  be  readily  conceived,  his  wife 
opposed  the  plan,  lucrative  as  it  promised  to  be,  with 
all  her  influence.  A  fortunate  circumstance  occurred, 
almost  immediately,  to  second  her  remonstrances. 
Charles  James  Dallas,  then  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  at 
the  instance  of  his  son,  George  M.  Dallas,  who  had  been 
a  friend  and  supporter  of  Spencer  II.  during  his  course 
in  Philadelphia,  appointed  him  in  the  Treasury  Depart- 
ment, and  he  removed  with  his  wife  and  boy  to  the  seat 
of  Government.  He  experienced,  however,  the  deepest 
regret  at  leaving  Baltimore,  and  nothing  but  the  "neces- 
sity of  present  life,"  overcame  the  desire  he  felt  to 
remain  amongst  a  people,  who,  under  all  circumstances, 
had  displayed  towards  him  a  kindness  and  affection  of 
no  ordinary  character.  "  Our  friends,"  he  says,  "  over- 
whelmed me  with  kindness," — this  was  shortly  after  his 
removal,  and  during  a  business  visit  to  his  former  home. 
"  Every  one  pressed  me  to  stay  with  them,  and  insisted 
upon  it  that  Baltimore  must  be  our  home,  and  that 
something  shall  be  done  to  make  it  a  desirable  one. 
Oh  !  that  I  were  more  worthy  their  Christian  regards. 
They  seem  bent  indeed  upon  my  staying  here.  They 
insist  that  if  one  business  will  not  support  me  here,  they 
will  keep  us  with  all  their  hearts  till  I  find  something 
else  that  will.     Such  is  the  brotherly  kindness  of  Balti- 


LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE.  137 

moreans.  Does  it  not  resemble  that  which  the  apostles 
speak  of  in  times  of  old.'' 

The  same  letter  gives  a  glimpse  of  home-life  under 
difficulties  ;  and  to  how  strict  an  economy  he  condemned 
himself  for  the  purpose  of  liquidating  the  claims  against 
the  "  Whig." 

Cynthia,  their  only  house-servant,  whom,  indeed,  they 
could  as  little  afford  to  keep  as  bear  to  part  with,  and 
himself,  formed  the  whole  household  of  "  retrenchment." 

"Nothing  of  importance,"  he  says,  "has  transpired. 
Cynthia  and  I  rise  with  the  sun  here  in  Baltimore,  con- 
tinually ;  which  to  you  wise  and  philosophical  Philadel- 
phians,  I  suppose,  seems  a  paradox,  but  I  assure  you, 
nevertheless,  it  is  literally  true.  To  day  (May  22d)  I 
have  indulged  in  very  nice  peas  at  37|  cents  per  peck, 
and  if  I  had  anybody  to  eat  with  me,  no  doubt  they 
would  relish  delightfully.  It  has  been  uncommonly 
warm  for  two  days  past.  My  ancient  greens  have 
drawn  forth  from  my  poor  benders,  copious  streams  of 
perspiration.  I  can't  stand  it  much  longer.  I  shall  be 
compelled,  I  fear,  to  buy  summer  pantaloons.  How 
fares  the  purse  by  this  time  ?  I  have  between  $20  and 
$30  owing  in  Philadelphia,  on  account  of  the  'Whig' 
which  will  be  collected  and  given  to  you." 

The  above  extract  is  only  one  of  many  which 
might  be  given  as  evidence  of  the  manly  energy  and 
healthful  elasticity  of  mind,  with  which  he  looked 
trouble  and  sacrifice  in  the  face.  Accustomed,  during 
the  latter  part  of  his  secular  career,  to  luxurious  living, 
extravagance  of  dress  and  equipage,  and  the  company 
of  wealthy  and  fashionable  people,  he  sacrifices  every- 
thing to  the  idea  of  duty,  not  with  a  repining  or  dejected 
spirit,  but  with  a  kind  of  gaiety.  Sometimes,  indeed, 
depressed,  when  "  neither  sun  nor  stars  appear  for  many 
days,"  but  very  soon  through  all  the  gloom,  seeing  by 


138  LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON"    CONE. 

faith  the  shining  face  of  his  heavenly  Father,  even  behind 
a  frowning  Providence.  Sometimes  feeling  as  if  he 
were  sinking  in  the  deep  waters,  but  very  shortly  hear- 
ing; the  eternal  voice  calling  through  the  storm — "  Be 
not  afraid,  it  is  I." — and  walking  the  troubled  sea  of 
human  sorrows,  and  earthly  trials,  with  confidence  and 
hope — secure  that  "  neither  death  nor  life,  nor  any  other 
creature  could  separate  him  from  the  love  of  God,"  or 
prevent  the  ultimate  accomplishment  of  His  will. 

On  his  appointment  by  Mr.  Secretary  Dallas,  he 
removed  his  church  membership,  from  the  first  church 
m  Baltimore,  to  the  Baptist  church  at  "Washington,  of 
which  Bev.  Obadiah  B.  Brown  was  pastor. 

The  history  of  that  time,  so  interesting  and  so  happy 
in  its  results,  is  best  told  by  himself. 

"  In  the  course  of  three  or  four  weeks  (after  my  remo- 
val to  "Washington,  D.  C.)  the  deacon  of  the  little  church 
at  the  Navy  Yard  asked  me  to  go  with  him  to  their 
Lord's-day  morning  prayer-meeting.  They  had  no 
pastor,  and  asked  me  to  lead  the  meeting,  and  give 
the  little  band  of  twenty  or  thirty,  a  word  of  exhorta- 
tion. 

"  In  reading  1  John,  ii.  1,  I  was  forcibly  impressed 
with  the  words,  '  If  any  man  sin,  we  have  an  advocate 
with  the  Father,  Jesus  Christ,  the  righteous;'  and  I 
spoke  from  them  without  embarrassment  for  nearly  an 
hour,  to  my  own  utter  surprise.  This  was  my  first 
attempt  to  preach  Christ  crucified  to  my  fellow-men. 

"At  their  earnest  request,  I  agreed  to  speak  for  them 
again  the  next  Lord's-day  morning.  It  somehow  leaked 
out  that  Mr.  Cone,  formerly  on  the  stage,  was  to  preach. 

"When  I  went  to  fulfill  the  appointment,  their  little 
meeting-house  on  the  Commons,  near  the  Navy  Yard, 
was  surrounded  by  an  immense  crowd,  while  within  it 
was  so  full  that  I  reached  the  pulpit  steps  with  difficulty. 


LIFE   OF   SPENCER   IIOr/GIITCN   CONE.  139 

This  was  the  greatest  trial  I  ever  had  as  a  preacher,  in 
view  of  an  audience.  When  I  came  in  sight  of  the 
crowd,  I  was  tempted  to  turn  back,  and  when  1  rose  up 
to  commence  public  worship,  Satan  assured  me  that  my 
mouth  should  be  stopped  if  I  attempted  to  preach  ;  that 
the  cause  of  my  precious  Saviour  would  be  sadly  wound- 
ed ;  that  I  had  better  say  to  the  people,  I  was  not  pre- 
pared to  address  so  large  an  assembly,  and  then  go  home. 
The  suggestion  was  so  plausible,  I  did  not  think  at  the 
moment  that  it  came  from  the  great  Deceiver,  and  I 
concluded  to  give  out  a  hymn,  read  a  chapter,  pray,  and 
sing  again,  and  then  determine  how  to  act. — While  sing- 
ing the  second  hymn,  which  closed  with  these  words, 

"  '  Be  thou  my  strength  and  righteousness, 
My  Jesus  and  my  all !' 

the  worth  of  souls  was  presented  to  my  mind  with  irre- 
sistible force  ;  I  never  once  thought  of  the  want  of  words 
to  tell  the  story  of  the  Cross,  nor  of  the  crowd  of  hearers, 
but  directed  them  to  Ephesians,  ii.  10,  '  For  we  are  his 
workmanship,  created  in  Christ  Jesus  unto  good  works, 
which  God  hath  before  ordained  that  we  should  walk  in 
them,'  and  spoke  for  an  hour  with  fervor  and  rapidity. 
Wonderfully  did  the  Lord  help  me  that  day  ;  and  I  felt  it 
to  be  so  easy  to  preach  Jesus,  and  I  was  so  ready  to  spend 
and  be  spent  in  His  service,  that  I  consented  to  an 
appointment  for  the  next  Lord's-day.  My  third  sermon 
was  from  Malachi,  iii.  16,  '  Then  they  that  feared  the 
Lord  spake  often  one  to  another ;  and  the  Lord  heark- 
ened and  heard  it,'  &c.  and  He  gave  me  that  day  a 
soul  for  my  hire,  to  encourage  my  heart,  and  to 
strengthen  my  hands — blessed  be  His  holy  name  for  ever! 
Oh,  what  am  I,  or  what  my  father's  house,  that  to  me 
this  grace  should  be  given,  '  to  preach  among  the  Gen- 
tiles the  unsearchable  riches  of  Christ?'" — Ser.  to  the 
Young,  1844. 


140  LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 


CHAPTER   IX. 


ALEXANDRIA. 


So  general  was  the  interest  his  preaching  excited,  that 
the  little  church  at  the  Navy  Yard  was  thronged  inside 
and  out  by  all  classes,  and  he  became  so  popular  that 
shortly  after  being  licensed  to  preach,  he  was  chosen 
chaplain  to  the  Congress  of  1S15-16.  He  was  always 
of  the  opinion  that  the  principal  agent  in  procuring  his 
election,  by  Congress,  was  Henry  Clay,  then  the.  leader 
of  the  Democratic  party ;  an  account  lately  furnished 
by  a  gentleman  assigns  it  to  humbler  influence.  A  few 
days  after  his  election,  Mr.  Cla}-  remarked  to  him  that 
the  salary  of  the  chaplain  was  in  his  opinion  entirely  too 
small,  either  for  the  services  performed  by  the  incum- 
bent, or  the  dignity  of  the  body  for  whom  he  officiated, 
and  announced  his  determination  to  make  it  his  business 
to  see  members,  and  have  it  put  upon  a  proper  footing. 
With  his  customary  earnestness  in  everything  he  under- 
took, especially  whatever  was  recommended  to  him  by 
a  sentiment  of  personal  friendship,  he  pushed  the  matter 
through  immediately,  and  the  salary  of  the  chaplain  was 
raised  to  five  hundred  dollars. 

A  member  of  Dr.  Armitage's  church  has  kindly 
furnished  us  with  some  interesting  reminiscences,  part 
of  which,  relating  more  especially  to  his  chaplaincy,  we 
shall  quote  here  in  nearly  the  words  of  our  informant. 

"  In  1842,  when  he  was  my  pastor,  he  gave  me  a  letter 
of  introduction  to  his  own  old  pastor  in  Washington, 
D.C.,  the  Rev.  Obadiah  P.  Brown.     Brother  Brown  was 


LIFE    OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE.  141 

formerly  assistant  Post-master  General,  under  H.  J. 
Meigs,  and,  being  wealthy,  preached,  without  emolu- 
ment, for  the  church  at  Washington.  I  found  brother 
Brown,  then  nearly  four-score,  venerable  and  polite. 
He  received  me  very  kindly,  and,  as  he  had  at  one 
time  lived  in  the  vicinity  of  New  York,  we  had  many 
common  topics  of  agreeable  conversation.  He  gave  me 
a  sketch  of  the  early  history  of  brother  Cone,  for  whom 
he  retained  the  warmest  affection.  He  told  me  about 
his  baptism  ;  of  his  union  with  the  church  ;  of  his  giving 
him  a  letter  from  the  church,  and  the  part  he  took  in  his 
ord ination.  I  attended  worship  in  the  brick  church 
where  he  was  ordained.  I  went  down  to  the  Navy 
Yard  to  see  brother  Abel  Davis.  Old  brother  Davis 
told  me  how  it  was  he  who  had  invited  the  young  man 
(Mr.  Cone)  to  lead  their  prayer-meeting  in  the  little 
Navy  Yard  church  ;  what  he  said  that  night,  when  he 
spoke  for  the  first  time,  and  what  a  blessed  and  com- 
forting time  they  had  listening  to  him.  The  old  man 
recollected  it  all,  as  if  it  had  been  yesterday.  '  Oh 
yes,'  said  Mrs.  Davis,  '  I  was  down  at  old  Point 
Comfort,  and  my  husband  there  wrote  to  me  to  come 
home  directly,  for  there  was  a  wonderful  young  man 
come  amongst  us  ;  a  young  man  from  the  Treasury 
Office,  who  belonged  to  brother  Brown's  church.  I 
came  home,  and  there — there,'  she  said,  pointing  from 
the  window,  '  there  stood  the  old  plank  meeting-house, 
where  he  first  spoke,  and  I  heard  him  first.' 

"  A  revival  of  these  early  scenes  produced  an  amount 
of  joy  in  the  hearts  of  the  old  couple,  no  words  can  do 
justice  to. 

"'Yes,'  said  the  old  lady,  'in  this  very  room,  where 
we  are  now  sitting,  he  married  the  first  couple  he  ever 
married.  The  bride  was  my  own  daughter,  now  Mrs. 
Church.     She  is  living  now  at  Fort  Monroe.' 


112  LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

"  Many  interesting  details  were  communicated.  One 
or  two  I  particularly  remember. 

"In  1S15,  lie  was  chosen  chaplain  to  Congress,  and  the 
way  it  came  about  was  a  curious  working  of  Providence. 
A  widow  woman,  who  was  a  member  of  the  little 
church,  kept  a  boarding-house  principally  frequented 
by  members  of  Congress.  She  had  two  sons,  about  ten 
and  twelve  years  old,  and  they  were  pages  in  the  House 
of  Representatives.  One  of  the  members  and  his  wife 
took  lodgings  with  the  widow.  The  member's  wife  was 
also  a  devout  woman.  The  widow  said  to  this  sister, 
'Won't  you  ask  your  husband  to  nominate  brother 
Cone,  as  chaplain  to  the  House?'  'Yes,  indeed,  most 
gladly ;'  was  the  reply.  She  did  so,  and  at  her  urgent 
request,  and  the  widow's,  he  nominated  Spencer  II. 
Cone.  The  widow's  sons,  the  two  pages,  were  delighted 
at  the  nomination,  and  preparing  ballots  with  Spencer 
II.  Cone's  name  on  them,  flew  around  the  hall,  supplying 
the  members  with  them,  and  importuning  every  one  to 
vote  for  him.  The  zeal  of  the  boys  succeeded,  and  he 
was  chosen  chaplain. 

"  Here  he  was  at  once  introduced,  by  the  providence 
of  God,  into  a  field  of  great  notoriety,  and  here,  as  every 
where,  he  fearlessly  proclaimed  the  Gospel.  During 
the  session  a  person,  high  in  rank,  was  laid  on  a  bed  of 
sickness.  In  his  life-time,  when  strong  and  healthy,  he 
had  been  an  infidel ;  but  when  the  fear  of  death  took 
hold  upon  him,  he  cried  out  for  the  minister  of  Christ. 
How  he  died,  whether  changed  or  impenitent,  I  do  not 
know,  but  the  young  chaplain,  soon  after  his  death, 
made  a  striking  allusion  to  those  who  live  without  God 
in  the  world.  When  laid  upon  a  death-bed,  however, 
and  summoned  to  their  account,  they  dare  not  meet  the 
Judge.  Then  they  call  aloud  for  God's  people  to  sup- 
plicate,  in   their    behalf,  the   God   they   had   denied. 


LIFE   OF   SPENCEE   HOUGUTON    CONE.  143 

Then  they  are  willing  to  renounce  and  abandon  the 
refuge  of  lies  in  which  they  once  trusted.  But  the 
hour  of  mercy  has  passed,  and  they  die  in  hopeless, 
terrible  despair.  This  solemn  truth  he  uttered  boldly, 
and  with  striking  effect,  in  the  Hall  of  Representatives. 
Two  sons  of  the  deceased  great  man  heard  the  declara- 
tion, and  became  highly  incensed  against  the  chaplain. 
They  said  he  had  reflected  upon  the  virtuous  life  of 
their  father,  and  they  would  compel  him  to  apologize 
as  publicly  as  he  had  insulted  his  memory.  The  mem- 
bers of  the  church,  hearing  of  this,  for  it  was  a  common 
talk  in  the  city,  became  very  much  alarmed,  and  feared 
for  the  safety  of  their  beloved  brother.  The  more  timid 
met  together  to  consult  what  was  best  to  be  done  to 
protect  him.  Meantime  there  was  a  great  stir  abroad, 
and  it  was  rumored  that,  on  the  next  Lord's  day,  the 
chaplain  was  going  to  make  a  public  apology.  The 
day  came,  and  multitudes  thronged  the  house.  The 
young  chaplain  rose,  calm  and  undisturbed — his  manner 
as  happy  and  serene  as  though  there  had  never  been 
such  a  thing  whispered,  and  as  if  fear  were  not  a  part 
of  his  nature.  With  his  mellifluous  voice  he  read  a 
hymn  of  praise — then,  with  uplifted  hands,  poured  out 
his  heart  in  prayer.  The  Lord  heard  and  answered 
with  strength  and  grace.  He  stood  up.  Every  eye 
was  upon  him,  every  ear  stretched  to  hear.  He  began 
to  preach.  His  voice  rose  to  a  pitch  of  dignity,  his 
farm  dilated,  and  the  stern  words  of  doom,  for  the 
finally  impenitent,  went  rolling  and  thundering  through 
the  house.  Triumphantly  that  day  he  preached  the 
whole  plan  of  salvation  through  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
He  spoke  for  more  than  an  hour,  but  never  made  any 
direct  allusion  to  the  circumstance,  nor  the  shadow  of 
an  apology.  And  this  was  a  great  day  in  Washington  ; 
for  the  Lord  magnified  His  Word,  and  the  faith  of  the 


14i  LIFE    OF    SP'-iNCEK   HOUGHTON    CONE. 

church  was  strengthened.  Two  ladies,  wives  of  mem- 
bers of  Congress,  were  converted  by  the  instrumentality 
of  that  sermon. 

"  No  one  ever  heard  any  more  of  an  attempt  to  compel 
Spencer  II.  Cone  to  apologize  for  speaking  the  truth, 
as  God  had  revealed  it  in  the  Bible.  On  several  occa- 
sions, indeed,  his  life  was  threatened,  and  the  brethren 
in  great  fear  fjr  him  ;  but  he  could  never  be  brought  to 
entertain  any  apprehensions,  or  turn  aside  from  the 
course  of  duty,  for  fear  of  what  man  might  do  unto  him. 
A  violent  Catholic,  whose  wife  he  had  baptized,  went 
about,  for  a  long  time,  carrying  arms  and  making  great 
threats  of  vengeance,  but  although  he  had  frequent 
opportunities  of  executing  them,  either  his  heart  failed 
him,  or  Providence  interposed  some  other  obstacle,  and 
nothing  ever  came  of  it." 

At  the  close  of  the  congressional  session,  he  was 
invited  to  preach  for  the  little  church  in  Alexandria, 
D.  C.  We  are  indebted  to  Mrs.  Dagg,  wife  of  Dr.  J. 
L.  Dagg,  one  of  his  dear  children  in  the  Gospel,  for  the 
following  account  of  the  commencement  of  his  ministry, 
and  several  interesting  incidents  connected  with  it  in 
that  city. 

"In  1816,  Mr.  Cone  was  called  to  take  the  charge  of 
the  Baptist  church  in  Alexandria,  under  the  following 
circumstances.  Soon  after  his  chaplaincy  to  Congress 
closed,  he  made  a  visit  to  that  place,  and  was  invited  to 
preach  in  the  first  Presbyterian  church.  The  pastor  of 
this  church  was  an  old  Scotch  divine,  who  had,  for 
many  years,  lulled  his  people,  by  a  lifeless  ministry, 
into  an  almost  ttstal  forgetfulness  of  their  eternal 
interests. 

"Mr.  Cone  preached  from  the  text,  '  Whereas  I  was 
once  blind,  now  I  see.'  He  showed  that,  by  nature, 
we  were  totally  blind,  with  no  spiritual  discernment; 


LIFE    OF    SPENCER    HOUGHTON    CONE.  145 

but  that,  by  the  grace  of  God,  the  awakened  soul  was 
brought  to  be  sensible  of  his  blindness,  and  to  see  some- 
thing of  the  holiness  and.  purity  of  God's  law,  and  his 
inability  to  fulfill  its  demands. 

"  In  short  it  was  a  searching,  practical,  and  experimen- 
tal sermon,  which  pierced  the  hearts  of  many  sinners. 
The  movement  through  the  congregation,  and,  indeed, 
through  the  whole  community,  was  like  electricity. 

"As  an  effect  of  this  sermon  in  the  Presbyterian 
church,  two  or  three  ladies,  members  of  that  church,  set 
about  devising  a  plan  by  which  Mr.  Cone  might  be 
settled  in  Alexandria.  At  that  time  the  Baptist  church 
of  the  place  was  very  feeble,  being  composed  of  twenty 
or  thirty  females,  and  one  male  member,  with  no  settled, 
pastor  or  stated  preaching.  These  ladies  set  out  to  find 
the  church.  They  sought  for  the  male  member,  but  he 
had  removed  from  the  town.  They  found  some  of  the 
old  sisters;  expressed  their  desire,  and  promised,  on 
condition  that  Mr.  Cone  should  be  called  to  the  charge 
of  the  church,  that  they  would  guarantee  his  salary. 

"  A  letter  of  invitation  was  written.  Mr.  Cone  prayed 
over  it ;  and  the  result  was  his  acceptance  of  the  call, 
and  the  removal  of  his  family,  which  consisted  of  his 
wife  and  infant  son,  Edward. 

"  Here  the  record  of  God's  dealing  with  men,  by  his 
instrumentality,  commenced ;  and  here  commenced  a 
chain  of  labor,  a  link  of  which  was  not  broken  until  the 
golden  bowl  itself  was  broken  at  the  fountain. 

"He  entered  on  his  course,  in  that  city,  with  deep 
interest.  He  saw  that  a  mighty  work  was  to  be  done, 
and  that  the  Lord  had  much  people  in  that  city.  His 
arms  were  not  folded  in  sluggish  inactivity  and  despon- 
dency, in  view  of  the  magnitude  of  the  social  and  moral 
evil  which  surrounded  him  on  every  side.  But  he 
toiled  hopefully,  patiently,  and  ardently,  in  his  work, 


146  LIFE    OF   SPENCER    HOUGHTON   CONE. 

and  great  success  followed.  The  house  was  enlarged, 
and  crowds  attended  his  ministry:  and  crowds  were 
converted  by  his  instrumentality.  Many  who  came  to 
deride  and  scoff,  left  crying  for  mercy.  Among  the 
converts  were  persons  in  every  class  and  rank  of  society; 
the  pharisee,  the  deist,  the  formal  professor,  the  distin- 
guished citizen,  and  the  immoral  and  degraded  charac- 
ter. 

"He  labored  there  about  seven  years;  and  almost 
every  month  during  the  whole  of  this  time,  he  led  the 
willing  convert  to  the  Potomac  for  baptism.  Thousands 
would  attend  this  ordinance;  even  when,  as  often  hap- 
pened during  a  severe  winter,  the  ice  had  to  be  broken 
for  the  purpose,  they  would  gather  around  the  opening 
made  for  baptism,  until,  by  their  weight,  the  whole  sheet 
would  be  immersed.  At  first  the  novelty  attracted 
attention,  and  the  subsequent  frequency  of  the  adminis- 
tration, with  his  impressive  addresses  at  the  water-side, 
and  his  graceful  performance  of  the  rite,  added  much  to 
the  notoriety  of  his  ministry.  But  this  was  not  without 
opposition.  He  was  an  object  of  ridicule  and  scoff  to 
many  ;  so  much  so,  indeed,  that  at  times  his  friends  con- 
sidered him  in  imminent  danger  of  assault.  But  his 
faith  undaunted  faced  his  foes,  the  enemies  of  God,  and 
the  gainsaying  world,  with  an  humble  reliance  on  the 
Saviour  who  said — 'Lo!  I  am  with  you  alway,  even 
unto  the  end  of  the  world.' 

"  Mr.  Cone's  high  social  qualities,  and  courteous  man- 
ner, drew  around  him  a  large  circle  of  admiring  friends 
and  led  him  to  visit  the  people  of  his  charge  with 
unrestrained  freedom.  He  would  enter  into  their  joys 
and  sorrows  with  that  sympathy  which  made  his  visits 
not  only  welcome,  but  looked  for  with  strong  desire. 
These  visits  were  not  confined  to  the  more  intelligent  or 
opulent  of  his  church.     The  African  and  the  poor  widow, 


LIFE    OF    8PENGEE    HOUGHTON    CONE.  147 

as  she  toiled  at  her  daily  work,  for  the  support  of  her 
fatherless  little  ones,  were  comforted  and  instructed  by 
them. 

"  His  theme,  at  such  times,  was  not  matters  of  State,  or 
trade,  or  agriculture,  or  the  weather  ;  but  he  was  accus- 
tomed to  introduce  such  inquiries  as  these;  What  have 
been  your  daily  exercises  the  past  week?  Does  the 
love  of  Christ  dwell  in  you  richly  ;  or  are  you  crying — 
oil,  my  leanness,  my  leanness? 

"Is  the  road  a  thorny  one,  and  your  progress  in  sancti- 
fication  difficult  ? 

"  Cannot  you  trust  that  grace  which  brought  you  into 
the  way,  and  began  the  good  work  ? 

"  By  such  inquiries  as  these,  he  would  learn  the  spiritual 
state  of  his  members,  and  would  administer  such  coun- 
sels and  encouragements  as  their  cases  required. 

"  Often,  in  these  visits,  with  a  countenance  beaming 
with  heavenly  radiance  and.  holy  joy,  he  would  relate 
the  exercises  he  had  heard  from  some  poor  contrite  sin- 
ner, or  from  the  warm  gushing  of  some  heart  grateful 
for  an  assurance  of  redeeming  love.  One  case  is 
impressed  on  my  memory.  It  was  the  tale  of  an  old 
slave  belonging  to  a  Maryland  planter.  He  had  never 
known  God  or  Christ,  until  one  day  the  inspector  came 
to  inspect  their  tobacco.  He  examined  one  hogshead 
and  condemned  it ;  another,  and  it  was  marked  as  good. 
Another  and  another  passed  his  inspection  with  varying 
results.  While  the  old  African  looked  on,  the  judgment 
day,  with  all  its  tremendous  realities,  passed  before  his 
mind — the  day  when  all,  both  good  and  bad,  shall  stand 
before  the  Great  Inspector.  From  these  first  impres- 
sions, the  Holy  Spirit  led  this  old  African  to  the  foot  of 
the  Cross.  After  he  had  found  peace  and  joy  in 
believing,  he  applied  to  Mr.  Cone  for  baptism,  and  told 
the  artless  tale  of  his  experieuce. 


148  THE    LIFE   OF    SPENCEK   HOUGHTON    CONE. 

"While  the  impression  of  this  simple  narrative  was  still 
fresh  upon  his  heart,  Mr.  C.  visited  our  family,  and 
repeated  the  story  with  streaming  eyes,  concluding  with 
the  exclamation — Oh,  the  free  grace  of  God  !  May  I 
never  want  a  tongue  to  proclaim  it  to  sinners,  or  a  heart 
to  feel  its  influence." 

"  Such  were  the  methods  which  this  man  of  God  adopted 
to  render  his  pastoral  visits  useful  to  the  people  of  his 
charge.  Thus  was  the  communion  of  saints  maintained 
and  the  fellowship  of  believers  kept  up,  by  the  social 
interchange  of  pious  thought  and  feeling.  Mr.  C.  felt, 
that  unimproved  intercourse  among  Christians  is  the 
bane  of  the  church.  He  felt,  too,  the  preciousness  of 
the  fellowship  of  saints,  and  sought  every  means  to  keep 
alive  a  coal  in  his  own  bosom,  that  he  might  enkindle  it 
in  others.  He  taught  that  they  who  feared  the  Lord? 
spake  often  one  to  another,  and  grace,  like  fire,  will  beget 
grace  ;  so,  by  the  mutual  giving  and  receiving,  the 
brotherhood  were  strengthened,  united,  and  advanced 
in  knowledge  and  holiness. 

l"  One  instance  of  conversion  through  his  instru- 
mentality may  be  selected  out  of  many. 

"  A  young  member  of  the  Bar  from  Washington  City, 
came  on  a  visit  to  Alexandria.  He  called  to  spend  the 
evening  with  two  young  ladies,  with  whom  he  had  been 
previously  acquainted.  They  proposed,  as  it  was  Mr. 
C.'s  lecture  evening,  to  attend,  inviting  their  young 
friend  to  accompany  them.  Gallantry,  as  well  as 
courtesy,  demanded  a  cheerful  acquiescence,  though 
he  would  have  preferred  his  hotel,  as  he  had  been 
indulging  in  too  much  wine.  But  he  resolved  what 
to  do.  As  sleep  would  be  grateful,  he  determined  to 
place  himself  in  some  obscure  corner,  where  he  might 
indulge  in  a  nap,  unobserved  and  uninterrupted.  He 
did  so.     The   introductory   hymn   and   prayer   passed 


LIFE   OF    SPENCER    HOUGHTON    CONE.  149 

unheard.  The  lecture,  on  that  evening,  was  from  the 
twenty-third  Psalm:  'The  Lord  is  my  shepherd,  I 
shall  not  want.'  This  young  lawyer  was  first  arrested 
by  the  preacher's  voice  and  manner,  and  then  by  the 
subject.  He  went,  step  by  step,  with  the  speaker  until 
he  felt  he  was  a  poor,  lost,  condemned  criminal.  He 
did  not  return  to  Washington  the  next  morning,  as  he 
had  intended.  So  deep,  pungent,  and  sincere  was  his 
repentance  for  sin,  that  he  presented  himself  to  Mr.  C, 
although  an  entire  stranger,  and  told  his  story.  He 
proved  to  be  a  trophy  of  sovereign  grace.  Mr.  C  made 
every  domestic  claim  subordinate  to  this  interest- 
ing case.  He  invited  him  to  his  home;  prayed  with 
him  daily;  often  placed  his  arm  in  his,  and  made  his 
pastoral  calls  or  social  visits;  recommended  the  reading 
of  such  works  as  were  suited  to  him,  and  watched  over 
his  spiritual  growth,  as  he  that  watcheth  for  souls. 
Conversion  from  sin  to  holiness  was  the  result ;  and  a 
consecration  of  himself  to  the  work  of  the  ministry. 
His  initiation  into  the  sacred  office  was  under  the 
guidance  of  his  Spiritual  Father,  who  rejoiced  over  him 
as  a  son  in  the  Gospel. 

"  These  two  cases  of  conversion,  which  have  been 
narrated,  are  from  the  extreme  ranks  of  society.  Others 
from  intermediate  classes  might  be  told.  Whole  families 
were  brought  into  the  fellowship  of  the  church.  One, 
consisting  of  ten  members,  three  of  whom  had  passed 
their  three  score  years,  was  of  the  number.  Five  of 
them,  after  having  lived  a  life  of  faith,  holiness  and  use- 
fulness, have  been  translated  to  the  church  triumphant, 
and  the  remaining  live,  of  whom  the  writer  is  one,  have 
survived  their  Spiritual  Father,  and  are  cherishing  the 
hope  of  meeting  him  in  glory,  and  uniting  with  him  in 
singing  the  song  which  none  but  the  redeemed  can  sing!" 

Early  in  his  ministry  in  Alexandria,  he  writes  to  his 


150  LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON    CONE. 

■mother,  "  Duties  and  trials  increase  with  years ;  but 
experience  has  proved  that  there  is  a  Friend  that  sticketh 
closer  than  a  brother,  a  Friend  whose  grace  has  hitherto 
been,  and  I  doubt  not  will  ever  continue  to  be,  sufficient 
for  me.  The  Lord  has  wonderfully  upheld  me  in  the 
work  of  the  ministry,  and  I  may  truly  say,  He  hath 
done  for  me  and  by  me  exceeding  abundantly  above  all 
that  I  could  ask  or  think.  About  ninety  souls  have 
been  added  to  the  church  in  Alexandria,  since  my  call 
to  take  charge  of  it,  and  the  glorious  work  is  still 
carrying  on.  Three  or  four,  not  yet  baptized,  have 
been  introduced  into  the  liberty  of  the  children  of  God ; 
several  are  anxiously  inquiring  the  way  of  life  and 
salvation,  and  the  hearts  of  the  brethren  appear  to  be 
knit  together  in  the  bonds  of  Gospel  love.  And  yet,  oh  ! 
is  it  not  astonishing:?  and  vet,  want  of  eno-afiredness  m 
the  cause  and  service  of  Christ — backwardness  in  duty 
— distracted  and  wandering  thoughts — coldness  and 
deadness  in  private  devotion — want  of  zealous  and 
animated  affection  towards  God,  and  his  clear  children, 
like  leprous  spots  still  cleave  to  me.  Every  day's  ex- 
perience convinces  me,  yet  more  and  more,  that,  if 
saved  at  all,  1  must  be  a  sinner  saved  by  grace.  Grace 
alone,  free,  sovereign  and  resistless,  as  that  which 
rescued  the  dying  thief,  can  reach  my  case,  and  present 
a  good  hope  of  everlasting  life  to  one  who  deserves  to  be 
a  firebrand  of  hell.  The  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  cleanseth 
from  all  sin.  Oh,  my  dear  mother,  what  a  precious 
truth  !  Well,  may  the  apostle  say,  '  It  speaketh  better 
things  than  the  blood  of  Abel.'  One  calls  down 
vengeance  on  the  murderer's  guilty  head  ;  the  other 
cleanses  the  conscience  from  dead  works,  and  speaks 
peace  and  pardon  to  the  chief  of  sinners.  The  blood  of 
Abel  cried  aloud  to  God — Condemn !  The  blood  of 
Jesus  cannot  flow  in  vain.     With  a  yet  louder  voice  it 


LIFE    OF   SPENCER    HOUGHTON    COXE.  151 

cries,  in  behalf  of  all  his  children  ?  Father  forgive  them, 
for  I  have  died.  Pray  for  me.  I  hope  we  shall  see 
each  other  yet  once  more  in  the  flesh.  If  not — I  trust 
me  shall  meet  in  a  much  better  world,  never  to  part 
again  ?  " 

In  the  same  strain  he  addresses  his  sister  Catharine, 
the  loveliness  of  whose  person  was  a  happy  index  of  the 
superior  graces  of  her  mind. 

"  I  do  think,  my  dear  sister,  if  of  my  own  wicked  and 
deceitful  heart  I  know  anything,  that  I  can  sincerely 
unite  with  yon  in  the  prayer  that  'I  may  ever  be  kept 
at  the  foot  of  the  Cross.'  So  much  pride,  when  the  Lord 
is  graciously  pleased  to  work  by  me,  in  the  comforting 
and  conversion  of  precious  souls  ;  so  much  self-sufficiency , 
when  a  door  of  utterance  is  opened  for  me  to  preach  the 
unsearchable  riches  of  Jesus  Christ ;  so  much  unbelief, 
when  only  trifling  difficulties  present  themselves  in  the 
path  of  duty ;  so  much  coldness,  formality,  and  wander- 
ing of  thought — that  I  am  constrained  to  cry  out,  oh ! 
wretched  man  that  I  am !  Draw  me  to  Thy  feet,  dear 
Saviour!     Lay  me  low,  and  keep  me  there  !" 

"What  an  unspeakable  joy  that  where  sin  abounded, 
grace  did  much  more  abound.  God  deals  not  with  us 
according  to  our  desert,  but  according  to  the  riches  of 
His  mercy  and  goodness  treasured  up  in  a  dear  Imma- 
nnel.  Words  are  poor,  and  language  vain  to  tell  the 
debt  of  gratitude  and  love  we  owe  to  Him — '  Who  hath 
begotten  us  again,  unto  a  lively  hope,  by  the  resurrec- 
tion of  Jesus  Christ  from  the  dead,  to  an  inheritance, 
incorruptible,  undefiled,  and  that  fadeth  not  away, 
reserved  in  heaven,  for  children  who  are  kept  by  the 
power  of  God,  through'  faith,  unto  the  salvation  ready 
to  be  revealed  in  the  last  time.' 

"  Meditate  upon  these  heaven-born  words.  Have  you 
this  hope  ?     To  help  you  a  little,  if  the  Lord  will,  take 


152  LIFE   OF   SPENCER    HOUGHTON   CONE. 

notice  that  the  children's  hope  is  lively — because  it 
springs  from  spiritual  life — because,  though  ever  so 
much  beclouded  it  never  entirely  dies,  and  because  it 
enlivens  and  animates  the  soldier  of  the  Cross  in  every 
battle  trial!  It  is  the  hope  of  an  inheritance — not  a 
reward  of  merit.  That  hope  is  strengthened  because 
the  inheritance  is  '  reserved.''  It  cannot  be  squandered 
by  faithless  guardians — and  it  is  made  stronger  still, 
because  we  can't  die  minors — for  we  are  'kept7  by  the 
power  of  God,  and  shall  be  led  into  the  mansions  of 
salvation,  which  are  all  'ready*  for  them  that  love 
God — that  are  the  called  according  to  his  purpose.  The 
Lord  bless  yon.     Amen  !" 

No  doubt  every  true  child  of  God  watches  and  prays 
continually  against  spiritual  pride,  as  the  prolific  parent 
of  every  spiritual  vice,  and  desires  to  be  clothed  in  the 
humility  of  little  children,  and  so  possess  their  souls  as 
ever  kneeling  at  their  MasterTs  feet,  confessing  all  their 
need,  and  weeping  all  their  sin.  In  him  of  whom  we 
write,  this  holy  temper  and  spirit  of  the  mind  was,  all 
his  Christian  life,  a  marked  characteristic.  It  had  its 
effect  often  very  plainly  on  his  oratory.  When  carried 
away  by  his  subject,  and  rising  to  the  loftiest  heights, 
or  whirled  along  by  the  power  of  his  imagination,  and 
pouring  out  a  stream  of  impetuous  declamation,  which 
burned  and  glittered  like  molten  gold — something 
would  seem  to  flash  across  his  mind.  His  hand  would 
steal  to  his  heart,  as  if  a  pain  checked  him — and  tender 
and  humble  tones  of  love,  pleading  before  the  throne  of 
grace  for  sinners — not  sinners  vile  as  some  great  crimi- 
nals,  whose  name  the  historic  page  blushed  and  shud- 
dered to  record — but  sinners  vile  as  himself,  went  up 
to  heaven  with  all  the  holy  fervor  of  conviction  in  their 
utterance.  You  could  not  fail  to  see  the  thought  which 
checked  him,  and  struck  his  heart  like   a  sharp  agony, 


LITE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE.  153 

translate  itself  upon  Ills  face.  Every  feature  spoke  it, 
and  said — Have  not  words  carried  me  away  ;  and  the 
passion  of  mere  human  eloquence  led  to  the  verge  of 
pride  in  the  display  of  human  powers.  God  be  merci- 
ful to  me  a  sinner.  "  Bring  me  to  the  foot  of  the  cross, 
Oh  Saviour.     Lay  me  low  and  keep  me  there." 

It  was  a  beautiful  trait  in  his  character,  and  one 
springing  necessarily  from  the  grace  of  humility,  that 
he  was  without  envy.  He  was  never  heard  at  home, 
and  we  think  no  one  remembers  him,  abroad,  indulging 
in  ill-speaking  of  any  living  creature.  Those  who  gave 
him  most  trouble  in  his  public  life,  and  sowed  most 
thorns  for  him,  were  prayed  for  in  private  at  the  family 
altar,  and  rarely  mentioned  at  any  other  time  ;  but  if 
spoken  of — always  without  passion.  Of  preachers  he 
never  said  a  hard  word.  Indeed  he  could  never  be  got 
to  criticise  anything  but  their  doctrine,  by  any  feint  or 
question.  If  he  heard  one  preach  what  he  did  not 
believe  to  be  the  Gospel,  then,  indeed,  he  applied  the 
Apostle's  words  with  unrestrained  severity,  and  asserted 
that,  "  if  an  angel  from  Heaven  "  preached  anything 
but  the  Gospel  he  should  be  accursed.  But  for  their 
manner  of  delivery,  or  of  handling  a  subject,  their  style 
of  sermonizing,  or  any  mental  or  personal  defects,  he 
could  never  be  driven  to  speak  disparagingly.  Often 
at  home,  we,  being  young  and  hard  to  please,  as  well  as 
careless  of  what  we  said,  would  play  the  satirist,  and 
be  very  smart  at  the  expense  of  some  good  brother, 
whom  we  had  lately  heard  He  would  never  stop  to 
hear  us  out,  but  walk  away,  shaking  his  head,  and  say- 
ing— "  Oh  boys,  boys,  I  hope  you  may,  either  of  you, 
ever  do  half  as  well.  The  dear  brother  said  a  great 
many  good  things.     I  wish  you  had  listened  to  those" 

He  seemed  in  fact,  to  have  but  one  feeling  with 
regard  to  his  fellow  preachers,  and  that  was — that  they 

7* 


154  LITE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON    CONE. 

■were  engaged  in  one  cause,  a  cause  so  mighty  and  mag* 
nificent  as  to  dwarf  out  of  sight  all  human  vanity.  His 
natural  disposition  too,  and  the  sentiment  of  the  heroic 
which  pervaded  all  his  nature,  made  the  success  and 
ability  of  all  who  fought  under  the  banner  of  the  Cross 
a  subject  of  enthusiastic  delight ;  oftentimes  his  exhibi- 
tion of  the  pleasure  he  experienced,  in  their  well  doing, 
■was  almost  childlike  in  its  simplicity.  lie  would  bend 
forward,  and  watch  them  as  they  spoke,  whilst  his  face, 
like  a  glass,  reflected  every  changing  expression  and 
feeling  of  their  own.  It  was  the  only  way  in  which  his 
extraordinary  powers  of  mimickry  were  ever  displayed, 
in  his  Christian  life  ;  and  these  acted  without  his  will — 
a  happy  mimickry  in  which  the  mobile  face  obeyed  the 
prompting  of  the  heart,  and  translated,  in  its  varying 
expression,  his  kindly  sympathy  with  the  speaker. 
"VVe  cannot  help  dwelling  for  a  moment  on  the  charac- 
teristic, since  it  had  undoubtedly  a  great  deal  to  do  in 
attaching  the  younger  ministers  of  the  Gospel  to  him. 
They  felt  as  if  a  father  were  beside  them,  as  anxious  as 
themselves  that  their  public  efforts  should  be  worthy 
of  their  own  talents,  and  above  all,  worthy  of  the  cause 
in  which  they  were  exerted. 

In  illustration  of  that  part  of  his  history  which 
is  connected  with  his  labors  in  Alexandria,  we  further 
quote  the  reminiscences  which  have  been  spoken  of  as 
furnished  by  a  member  of  Dr.  Armitage's  church. 
"  In  June,  1816,"  he  says,  "I  left  the  city  of  New  York 
for  a  tour  in  the  South,  and  made  a  visit  to  my  uncle, 
"William  Carman  of  Baltimore.  On  leaving  Baltimore, 
he  gave  me  a  letter  of  introduction  to  the  Rev.  John 
Paradise,  pastor  of  the  Baptist  church  in  Alexandria. 
When  I  reached  Alexandria,  however,  I  learned  that 
Mr.  Paradise,  having  fallen  into  ill  health,  had  resigned 
the  pastoral  charge  of  the  church  there,  and  removed 


LIFE    OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE.  155 

to  Maryland,  and  that  Spencer  H.  Cone  had  been 
chosen  pastor  of  the  church  in  his  stead.  The  first 
Lord's-day  I  spent  in  Alexandria  the  church  was  closed. 
I  understood  that  it  had  been  found  too  small  to  accom- 
modate the  congregation,  and  was  being  enlarged  and 
repaired.  I  attended  public  worship,  part  of  that  day, 
with  a  young  Methodist  friend,  a  devout  and  godly 
person.  Meeting  some  Baptist  friends,  however,  I 
learned  that  Spencer  IT.  Cone  was  going  to  baptize 
some  three  or  four  persons  in  the  Potomac,  near  the 
city.  I  found  the  place,  and  there  I  saw  assembled  an 
interesting  group,  and  amongst  them  the  new  pastor. 
After  a  solemn  prayer  he  descended  into  the  water. 
He  immersed  the  women  first,  and  then  the  man. 
The  latter  was  a  man  of  iniddle  age,  and  was,  at  that 
time,  cashier  of  the  Bank  of  Alexandria. 

"  The  place  where  the  ceremony  was  performed, 
bordered  on  a  field,  the  fence  of  which  ran  along,  not 
far  from  the  edge  of  the  water.  Among  the  spectators 
were  some  idle  young  men  who  had  come  out  of 
curiosity,  to  see  the  pla}Ter  turned  preacher.  During 
the  administration  of  the  ordinance,  these  young  fellows 
behaved  in  a  very  offensive  and  unbecoming  manner, 
so  much  so  as  to  be  observed  not  only  by  the  specta- 
tors present,  but  also  by  the  administrator  himself. 

"  When  the  last  person,  the  cashier,  had  been  baptized, 
one  of  the  deacons  took  charge  of  him,  and  led  him  up 
out  of  the  water.  Whilst  Mr.  Cone  remained  midway 
in  the  water,  he  lifted  up  his  hand,  and,  standing  in 
exactly  the  attitude  in  which  he  is  represented  in  the 
full-length  portrait,  now  in  the  possession  of  his  children, 
fixed  his  eyes  upon  the  disturbers,  and  began  to  rebuke 
them  in  the  most  solemn  manner.  I  have  never  heard 
a  more  scathing  rebuke,  or  one  delivered  with  such 
terrific  earnestness,  and  intensity  of  manner.    The  devout 


156  LIFE    OF    SPENCER    HOUGHTON   CONE. 

spectators,  as  they  listened,  felt  as  if  God,  in  very  truth, 
was  there,  manifesting,  by  the  lips  of  His  servant,  His 
hatred  of  sin,  whilst  the  poor  deluded  young  men  slunk 
away  as  well  as  they  could,  and  got  off  by  leaping  the 
fence.  Oh,  what  a  solemn  sight  it  was  to  me.  It  was 
mingled  with  joy  and  sorrow.  Joy  for  the  triumph  of 
truth  ;  sorrow  for  those  ignorant  and  wicked  men.  Time 
has  never  effaced  the  vivid  picture.  There  stood  a  young 
man,  the  fresh  bloom  upon  his  cheek,  his  heart  so  full 
of  love  and  holy  zeal,  with  uplifted  hand,  and  voice 
clear  and  sonorous  as  a  silver  trumpet,  rebuking,  in 
the  name  of  the  Lord  of  Hosts,,  the  despisers  who  wander 
and  perish  ! 

"  This  was  the  first  time  I  ever  saw  Mr.  Cone. 

"  I  was,  shortly  after,  informed,  by  a  member  of  the 
church,  that  the  wife  of  the  cashier  had  some  time  before 
been  baptized  by  Mr.  Cone,  and  had  united  with  the 
church.  Her  husband  had  vehemently  opposed  it,  and 
was  greatly  incensed  at  her  course.  For  some  time  he 
refused  to  accompany  her  to  the  house  of  God.  The 
asperity  of  his  feeling,  however,  gradually  softened,  and 
lie  yielded  to  her  persuasion,  and  went  with  her.  The 
preacher  rose,  and  in  his  peculiarly  clear  and  searching 
voice  announced  his  text,  '  And  Nathan  said  unto 
David  thou  art  the  man  !"  His  eye  was  upon  the 
cashier,  his  finger  seemed  to  find  him  out,  amongst  all 
the  audience,  and  fasten  the  text,  with  all  its  terrible 
meaning,  upon  him  alone.  The  words  were  like  an 
arrow  guided  by  the  Spirit.  It  entered  his  heart.  It 
slew  him.  His  conscience  was  pricked.  His  sins  rose 
up  in  condemnation  against  him.  He  remembered, 
with  keen  regret,  his  opposition  to  his  wife.  The  word 
of  the  Lord  had  found  him  out.  After  service  he  retired, 
not  to  scoff  but  to  pray,  and  cry,  'Men  and  brethren, 
what  must  I  do  to  be  saved  ?"     Very  soon  afterwards  he 


LIFE   OF    SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE.  157 

came  "before  the  church,  and  related  to  them  the  story 
of  his  conversion. 

"  In  the  afternoon  of  the  same  day,  I  was  present  when 
the  hand  of  fellowship  was  given  to  the  new  members, 
and  the  bread  broken.  The  remarks  of  Mr.  Cone  were 
so  striking,  that  I  can  see  him  still  as  he  stood  there 
beside  the  table  of  the  Lord. 

"As  he  broke  the  bread  of  life  he  followed,  with 
touching  tenderness,  the  analogy  between  the  bread 
which  perishes,  and  the  bread  of  eternal  life.  The 
plowing  of  the  earth;  the  seed  sown  in  good  ground, 
and  springing  up  to  yield  an  hundred  fold.  The  blade  ; 
the  ear ;  the  corn  fully  ripe.  Then  cut  down  ;  threshed  ; 
winnowed,  all  the  chaff  blown  away ;  ground  ;  finally 
prepared  for  bread,  leavened,  put  into  the  oven  ;  broken 
and  eaten.  The  staff  of  life.  This  is  the  bread  of  men. 
For  the  bread  of  heaven,  go  to  the  Lord  Jesus.  They 
plowed  His  back.  With  cruel  hands,  wicked  men 
made  deep  their  furrows.  He,  the  seed  of  eternal  life, 
was  sown  in  the  earth.  He  grew  in  stature  and  in 
favor  ;  a  plant  of  God's  own  right  hand's  planting.  '  For 
the  bread  of  God  is  He  which  cometh  down  from 
Heaven,  and  giveth  life  unto  the  world.'  Jesus  is  the 
bread  of  life.  He  that  cometh  unto  him  shall  never 
hunger.  He  was  cut  down  ;  He  was  crucified  and  slain. 
He  was  wounded  for  our  transgressions,  He  was  bruised 
for  our  iniquities ;  the  chastisement  of  our  peace  was 
upon  Him  ;  and  with  his  stripes  we  are  healed.  He  was 
tempted  of  Satan,  and  found  perfect.  He  endured  the 
fierceness  of  the  Father's  wrath,  as  the  substitute  for  His 
people.  He  was  the  bread  prepared  by  the  Father. 
'I  am  the  living  bread  which  came  down  from  Heaven. 
If  any  man  eat  of  this  bread  he  shall  live  for  ever ;  and 
the  bread  that  I  will  give  is  my  flesh  ;  which  I  will  give 
for  the  life  of  the  world.'      'Whoso  eateth  my  flesh, 


158  LIFE   OF   SPENCEK   HOUGHTON    CONE. 

and  drinketh  my  blood,  hath  eternal  life ;  and  I  will 
raise  him  np  at  the  last  day.'  And  the  bread  of  life 
was  broken.  We  see  Him  in  the  garden  of  Olivet  '  that 
dear  honored  spot.'  Behold  His  agony,  when  Pie  sweat 
as  it  were  great  drops  of  blood  !  Behold  Him  nailed  to 
the  accursed  tree.  His  Father  hides  His  face  from  Him  ; 
and  He  who  was  the  brightness  of  the  Father's  glory,  and 
the  express  image  of  His  person  ;  He,  the  God,  Man, 
Mediator  ;  cries  aloud, '  My  God,  my  God,  why  hast  Thon 
forsaken  me  ?' 

"  'Twas  on  that  dark,  that  doleful-night, 
"When  powers  of  earth  and  hell  arose 
Against  the  Son  of  God's  delight, 
And  friend's  betrayed  Him  to  His  foes  ! 

"  Before  the  mournful  scene  began, 
He  took  the  bread,  and  blest,  and  brake ; 
What  love  thro'  all  His  actions  ran  ! 
What  wondrous  words  of  grace  He  spake  ! 

"  '  This  is  my  body,  broke  for  sin, 
Receive,  and  eat  the  living  food  ;' 
Then  took  the  cup  and  blest  the  wine, 
'  'Tis  the  new  cov'nant  in  my  blood.' 

"  And  this  feast  was  spread  for  you.  Eat  oh,  friends  ! 
drink,  oh  beloved  !" 

"  Such  is  a  feeble  sketch  of  the  tender  and  glowing  elo- 
quence of  love,  with  which  he  enforced  the  glorious  sig- 
nificance of  the  ordinance  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  as  he 
broke  the  bread  and  filled  the  cup  in  obedience  to  the 
Saviour's  divine  commission.  In  how  many  hearts  will 
it  not  awaken  the  memory  of  an  hundred  such  holy 
seasons ;  and  bring  before  their  mind's  eye,  that  form 
which  realized  the  exclamation  of  Isaiah — 'How  beau- 
tiful upon  the  mountains  are  the  feet  of  him  that  bring- 


LIFE   OF   SPENCEK   HOUGHTON   CONE.  159 

eth  good  tidings,  that  publisheth  peace  ;  that  bringeth 
good  tidings  of  good,  that  publisheth  salvation  ;  that 
saith  unto  Zion — Thy  God  reigneth  !' 

"  It  was  a  solemn,  a  momentous  time.  My  heart  was 
melted,  and  I  rejoiced  that  such  a  privilege  was  afforded 
me.     We  sang  a  hymn,  and  went  out. 

"The next  Lord's-day,  with  quickened  step  and  joyful 
heart,  I  repaired  to  the  house  of  God,  and  again  listened 
with  profit  and  delight.  For  nearly  four  months  I  sat 
under  his  preaching.  I  took  a  place  in  the  choir,  and 
became  well  acquainted  with  several  of  the  members  of 
the  church.  Many  colored  persons  belonged  to  the 
church,  and  the  house  was  always  full.  It  was  a  plain 
building,  and  the  audience  a  very  attentive  one.  His 
preaching  was  greatly  blessed  to  the  church,  and  many 
precious  souls  were  added  to  it.  It  was  truly  evangeli- 
cal preaching,  and  at  once  bold  and  lucid.  He  loved 
particularly  to  dwell  upon  the  Lord  Jesus  in  his  offices 
and  work,  as  Prophet,  Priest,  King;  the  Advocate  with 
the  Father,  &c.  The  sovereignty  of  God,  in  the  gospel 
plan  of  salvation  by  the  imputed  righteousness  of 
Christ,  was  also  a  constant  theme,  and  developed  with 
all  the  force  of  a  close  and  powerful  reasoning,  and  the 
fire  of  a  surprising  eloquence. 

"  I  was  informed  that  whilst  he  was  preaching  at  the 
little  church,  near  the  Navy  Yard  in  Washington,  he 
occasionally  went  to  Alexandria  to  preach  for  the  desti- 
tute little  church  there,  and  that  as  the  church  was  una- 
ble to  offer  him  a  support,  the  inhabitants  of  Alexandria 
generally  combined,  and  secured  the  payment  of  a  salary 
sufficient  to  support  hi's  family,  on  condition  that  the 
church  called  him  to  its  charge." 

The  manner  in  which  this  was  done,  we  have  already 
related. 

"  Having  finished  my  business  in  Alexandria,"  says 


160  LIFE   OF   SPENCER    HOUGHTON    GONE. 

our  informant,  "  I  left  some  time  early  in  the  month  of 
November.  Before  leaving,  however,  I  determined  to 
make  myself  known  to  the  pastor.  At  the  close  of  the 
service  on  one  of  the  week  evening  meetings  I  did  so. 
I  remember  that  he  preached  that  night  from  the  text — 
'  Oh  God,  my  heart  is  fixed.' 

"I  took  a  vessel,  to  come  ronnd  by  sea,  and  it  was 
twenty-one  days,  the  winds  being  contrary,  before  I 
reached  New  York. 

"  Late  in  the  month  of  November,  and  towards  the 
evening  of  the  day,  as  I  was  walking  np  Pearl  street,  I 
spied  the  young  preacher  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
way,  walking  quickly,  and  carrying  his  own  portmanteau. 
I  ran  over,  and  accosted  him.  He  did  not,  at  first, 
recognize  me.  I  said  to  him — '  Do  you  not  recognize 
the  young  man  who  introduced  himself  to  you  on  the 
evening  yon  preached  from  such  a  text  in  Alexandria?' 
He  immediately  recollected  me,  and  gave  me  a  warm 
reception,  saying — '  I  have  just  arrived  in  the  city.  I 
have  come  to  visit  some  of  the  churches,  and  ask 
them  to  give  me  a  collection  for  the  little  church  at 
Alexandria.  I  have  a  letter  to  Deacon  Garniss  of  the 
Oliver  street  church. 

"  I  offered  to  accompany  him,  and  show  him  the  way 
to  the  Deacon's  house.  We  reached  the  house,  which 
stood  at  the  corner  of  Roosevelt  and  Chatham  streets,  and 
after  introducing  them  to  each  other,  and  spending  some 
time  in  conversion  with  them  I  left  him  the  guest  of  the 
Deacon. 

"  On  the  next  Lord's-day  he  preached  in  the  Oliver 
street  meeting-house,  and  it  is  impossible  for  me  to 
describe  the  sensation  he  produced.  His  style,  his  mat- 
ter, his  manner  were  so  unlike  what  the  people  were 
accustomed  to,  that  after  the  sermon  all  were  in  aston- 
ishment.    I  remember  in  particular  that  Dr.  Mackin- 


LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE.  161 

tosh,  referring  to  what  I  head  written  of  him  from  Alex- 
andria, exclaimed,  '  Howbeit  I  believed  not  the  words, 
until  I  came,  and  mine  eyes  had  seen,  and  mine  ear:, 
heard— yet,  behold  !  the  half  was  not  told  me.' 

"This  visit  to  New  York,  and  his  preaching,  made  a 
profound  impression  upon  hundreds,  and  many  of  them 
are  still  alive  who  can  testify  to  it.  I  do  not  know  the 
fact,  but  I  venture  to  say  he  gained  his  object,  and 
entirely  relieved  the  little  church  in  Alexandria  from  its 
pecuniary  embarrassments. 

"From  that  time  until  he  removed  to  New  York  in 
1823,  I  think  I  never  heard  him  preach  but  on  one 
occasion,  and  that  was  for  the  church  in  Newark,  New 
Jersey,  of  which  the  late  Dr.  Daniel  Sharp  of  Boston, 
was,  at  that  time,  the  pastor." 

A  remarkable  testimony  to  the  character,  and  success 
of  his  preaching  at  that  time  is  afforded  by  the. celebrated 
Dr.  Staughton  of  Philadelphia,  himself  one  of  the  most 
learned,  evangelical,  and  eloquent  preachers  ever  con- 
nected with  the  denomination. 

It  is  contained  in  an  extract  from  one  of  his  letters 
published  in  the  Christian  Herald,  volume  4th,  p.  239— 
a  paper  printed  at  Edinburgh,  Scotland,  in  1817. 

"  I  will  state,"  says  the  Doctor,  "  a  circumstance  that 
will  give  you  much  pleasure.  A  young  man  of  the 
name°of  Spencer  Cone,  has  been  for  some  years  past  on 
the  Philadelphia  stage.  His  talents  as  an  actor  were 
considerable.  About  eighteen  month  ago  die  Lord 
taught  him  he  was  a  sinner,  and  constrained  his  flight  to 
the*  arms  of  Jesus.  He  now  resides  at  Washington 
city,  and  is  connected  with  the  Treasury  Department. 
Two  or  three  months  ago  he  was  called,  by  the  Baptist 
church  in  Washington,  to  the  exercise  of  his  talents  for 
the  ministry.  He  has  been  approved,  and  is  now  a 
faithful,  eloquent,  and  persuasive  preacher  of  the  Cross. 


162  LIFE   OF   SPENCEE   HOUGHTON    CONE. 

Two  weeks  ago  lie  paid  Philadelphia  a  visit.  He 
preached  twice  in  our  house  of  worship,  to  the  largest 
assemblies  I  ever  saw  ;  certainly  from  three  to  four 
thousand  five  hundred  were  present.  He  has  had  a 
liberal  education,  his  views  are  highly  evangelical,  and 
his  ability  for  holding  an  assembly  in  fixed  attention 
astonishing.  Hundreds  who  had  seen  him  in  the 
theatre  crowded  to  see  him  in  the  pulpit.  His  first 
sermon  was  on  the  worth  of  the  soul ;  his  second  on 
the  Character  of  Christ.  I  cannot  describe  my  feelings 
when,  on  his  first  rising,  he  began  with  the  hymn : — 

"  '  The  wondering  world  inquires  to  know, 
Why  I  should  love  my  Jesus  so  V 

"  I  have  heard  of  several  young  persons  who  are 
exhibiting  signs  of  a  hopeful  conversion  ;  among  these 
six  young  persons  were  boarding  in  our  family,  and 
one  of  these  a  John  May.  The  Lord  preserve  our 
young  brother  a  burning  light." 

Happy  child  of  prayer,  from  the  cradle  to  the  grave, 
His  angels,  who  are  flames  of  fire  sent  to  minister  to 
them  that  shall  be  heirs  of  salvation,  were  ever  given 
charge  over  him,  and  the  answer  to  the  prayers  of  the 
saints  was  audibly  uttered  in  the  daily  life  of  their 
object. 

About  a  week  after  his  death,  the  following  interest- 
ing particulars  were  given  to  us,  one  evening,  by  the 
gentleman  alluded  to  by  Dr.  Staughton — Mr.  John  May, 
for  many  years  past  a  resident  of  ISTew  York.  AYe  were 
not  then  aware  of  the  existence  of  the  letter  quoted 
above.  It  is  a  coincidence  which  lends  a  valuable 
addition  to  the  Doctor's  testimon}T,  that  Mr.  May  imme- 
diately described  to  us  the  same  scene,  a  scene  never 
forgotten,  and  which  the  death  of  Mr.  Cone  had  brought 


LIFE   OF    SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE.  163 

up  before  him,  with  all  the  vividness,  of  the  moment 
when  it  transpired.  "  I  was  a  little  late,"  said  he,  "and 
the  church  in  Sansom  street,  which  you  know  is  of 
great  size,  was  crowded  to  suffocation.  I  went  up  into 
the  gallery.  At  that  time  I  was  a  very  young  man. 
To  obtain  a  sight  of  the  preacher,  I  got  up  upon  a  bench, 
and  looked  over  the  people's  heads.  Just  as  I  had 
secured  my  position,  which  was  no  very  easy  matter, 
Mr.  Cone  rose.  Stepping  into  the  middle  of  the  pulpit 
he  uttered  the  first  two  lines  of  the  hymn.  '  The 
wondering  world  inquires  to  know,'  &c.  I  never 
heard  anything  like  it.  It  was  not  loud.  There  was 
no  effort  at  delivery,  but  every  syllable  came  clear 
through  the  house,  and  seemed,  as  it  were,  to  strike  and 
rebound  from  the  galleries  and  wall  behind  me.  In  an 
instant,  crowded  and  uncomfortable  as  the  audience 
were,  a  stillness  like  the  hush  of  death  fell  upon  the 
house.  You  might  have  heard  a  pin  drop.  It  seemed 
as  if  there  never  had  been  such  a  voice  heard  before. 
Above  all,  it  struck  every  one,  who  heard  him,  that  it 
was  such  a  happy  answer  to  the  ten  thousand  wonderers 
in  Philadelphia,  who  had  been  asking  that  very  ques- 
tion— Why  should  he,  who  led,  not  long  since,  such  a 
different  life  here,  and  loved  the  world  supremely,  all 
at  once  pretend  to  love  nothing  but  religion  ? 

" '  "What  are  his  charms,  say  they,  above 
The  objects  of  a  mortal  love.' 

The  rest  of  that  fine  hymn  of  Watts',  and  the  manner 
with  which  it  was  given,  answered  every  question." 

It  would  scarcely  have  been  astonishing  if  a  young 
man  to  whom  was  thus  offered,  without  measure,  the 
incense  of  public  admiration  ;  the  applause  of  breathless 
crowds;  the  homage  of  so  many  weeping   eyes,  and 


164  LIFE   OF    SPENCEK    HOUGHTON    CONE. 

throbbing  hearts — applause  and  homage  the  more 
subtle  and  nattering  to  human  pride  for  its  silent 
intensity — if  he  had  yielded  to  its  insidious  charm  and 
become  vain  and  self  reliant.  The  triumphs  of  the 
orator  expose  him  almost  naked  and  defenceless  to 
such  foes.  He  reads  his  own  power  in  the  upturned 
wondering  eyes  that  gaze  on  him,  that  catch  the  flame 
of  every  passion  from  his  own,  and  weep  or  sparkle  at 
his  will-  He  stands  above  the  crowd,  an  enchanter 
whose  magic  makes  a  thousand  hearts  his  unresisting 
captives.  The  air  that  clasps  him  is  laden  with  a  fatal 
incense,  which  at  once  excites  the  natural  man  to  the 
highest  exercise  of  his  powers,  and  lulls  the  spiritual 
into  a  dangerous  slumber.  The  multitude  is  before, 
around,  on  every  side  of  him — rich  and  poor,  the  mighty 
and  the  mean,  confounded,  for  the  hour,  into  a  common 
mass  by  the  ascendency  of  his  genius — and  he — he 
binds  them  spell-bound,  helpless  in  its  fetters.  The 
cynosure  of  every  eye — the  thought  of  every  heart — 
the  master,  touching  all  to  what  fine  issue  he  shall 
please ;  the  conqueror  standing  erect,  triumphant  on 
the  field  of  thought,  and  girt  with  willing  captives  ! 
what  more  dangerous  place ;  what  keener  test  for 
youth?  What  can  keep  him  from  pride,  or  from  ambi- 
tion? The  Master  who  inspires;  the  message  he  pro- 
claims.    The}7  keep  him;  and  ho  shall  be  kept. 

We  enter  into  his  private  thoughts ;  we  find  him 
alone  after  the  lights  are  all  out,  the  crowd  all  gone ; 
the  excitement  done ;  and  we  find  that  it  was  a  holy 
excitement,  the  exaltation  of  a  spirit  too  full  of  love  to 
God,  to  debase  itself  to  pride  of  human  things  ;  the 
combat,  not  of  the  forensic  Gladiator,  but  the  soldier  of 
the  Cross.  We  find  him  at  the  very  commencement  of 
his  successful  career,  retiring  from  his  public  duties, 
and   stealing  a  moment  to  pour  his  heart  out  to  his 


LITE   OF    SPENCER    HOUGHTON   CONE.  165 

mother,  and  exclaim  :  "I  thank  my  God  for  such  a 
mother,  and  have  only  canse  to  regret,  that  your  example 
and  precepts  have  not  had  their  proper  influence  upon 
my  life.  Let  me  not  want  your  prayers  ;  but  daily 
remember  your  poor  boy,  whose  lot  it  is  to  be  placed 
on  Zion's  walls,  where  the  fiery  darts  of  the  adversaries 
fly  thick  around  him,  and,  like  Jacob,  wrestle  with  the 
angel  of  the  covenant : 


tv 


"  '  That  David's  God,  and  Gideon's  friend, 
May  be  bis  keeper  to  tbe  end !' 

"Oh!  how  I  rejoice  to  know,  that  'there  is  another 
and  a  bettor  world,'  a  world  '  where  the  wicked  cease 
from  troubling,  and  where  the  weary  are  at  rest.'  Most 
feelingly  can  I  say  with  Job,  'I  would  not  live  always.' 
The  land  in  which  we  now  live  is  a  desert;  it  is  a 
strange  land  and  we  are  but  sojourners  and  pilgrims, 
travelling  to  the  Heavenly  Canaan  where  our  posses- 
sions lie.  The  Lord,  I  hope,  daily  cheers  your  heart, 
and  comforts  you  with  bright  prospects  of  ere  long 
enjoying  that  inheritance  which  is  incorruptible,  un- 
deliled,  and  that  fadeth  not  away. 

"  Tii is  morning  I  preached  from  Romans  viii.  2,  and 
rejoiced  to  know  that  'The  Spirit  of  life  in  Christ 
Jesus,  hath  made  me  free  from  the  law  of  sin  and 
death  '  This  evening  closes  the  preaching  year,  and  I  pro- 
pose addressing  my  fellow  men,  from  Jer.  viii.  20  :  'The 
harvest  is  past,  the  summer  is  ended,  and  we  are  not 
saved.'  May  my  dear  unconverted  sisters  lay  it  to 
heart,  and  obtain  comfort  from  the  assurance  that 
'there  is  balm  in  Gilead,  and  a  great  Physician  there.' 

"  I  am  making  arrangements  to  leave  home  in  two  or 
three  days,  on  a  preaching  tour  in  the  State  of  Virginia, 
and,  as  I  do  not  calculate  to  return  before  the  middle  of 
next  month,  it  will  be  the  part  of  filial  duty,  and  affec- 


166  LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

tion,  to  one  most  truly  beloved  to  devote  an  epistolary 
hour. 

"It  was,  no  doubt,  a  source  of  unspeakable  joy  to  a 
fond  mother's  heart,  when  God  made  her  sou  a  Christian ; 
and  that  joy  was  perhaps  much  increased,  when  the 
Great  Head  of  the  Church  called  him  to  labor  in  His 
vineyard.  Oh !  the  depth  of  the  riches  both  of  the 
wisdom  and  knowledge  of  God  !  How  unsearchable  are 
His  judgments,  and  His  ways  past  finding  out! 

"Faithful  memoiy  oft  brings  in  painful  review  before 
me  the  days  that  are  past;  the  balls,  plays,  card  parties, 
&c,  with  which  those  days  were  swallowed  up  ;  and, 
then,  I  am  lost  in  astonishment  at  the  patience,  the 
forbearance,  the  boundless  goodness  of  my  God !  And 
yet  to  me,  who  am  less  than  the  least  of  all  saints,  is 
this  grace  given,  that  I  should  preach  among  the  gentiles 
the  unsearchable  riches  of  Christ.  Oh,  for  strength  from 
above,  that  I  may,  to  the  end,  speak  the  truth  in  love  ; 
and  labor  zealously,  faithfully,  and  continually  to  win 
precious  souls  to  Jesus.  I  am  ashamed  of  my  backward- 
ness and  slothfulness.  Lord  quicken  thou  me  according 
to  thy  word. 

'_'  What  pleasure  it  would  afford  me  to  hear  from  you  ; 
that  you  are  growing  in  grace,  and  in  the  knowledge  of 
a  once  crucified  but  now  exalted  Jesus  !  How  is  it 
with  you,  dear  mother?  Do  you  enjoy  the  presence  of 
Him  who  dwelt  in  the  bush  ?  Do  you  walk  in  the  light 
of  His  countenance  all  the  day  long?  Does  He  lead  you 
beside  the  still  waters  of  consolation,  and  make  you  to 
lie  down  in  the  green  pastures  of  His  love  ?  I  hope  this 
is  your  experience,  and  that  the  Lord  is  indeed  making 
your  last  days  your  best  and  most  comfortable  ones. 
But  it  may  be  that  you  are  sad  to-day.  What  then  ? 
Lift  up  the  hands  that  hang  down,  and  the  feeble 
knees.     Art   thou   afflicted  %     Behold   I   leave   in   the 


LIFE    OF    SPEXCEB    HOUGHTON    CONE.  167 

midst  of  you  a  poor,  and  an  afflicted  people,  and  they 
shall  trust  in  me.  Many  are  the  afflictions  of  the 
righteous,  but  the  Lord  delivereth  him  out  of  them  all. 
Whom  He  Joveth  Pie  chasteneth,  andscourgeth  every  son 
whom  He  receiveth.  Lest  you  be  wearied  and  faint  in 
your  mind,  look  to  Jesus,  and  consider  Him,  who  for 
the  joy  that  was  set  before  Him,  endured  the  Cross,  and 
despised  the  shame,  and  is  set  down  at  the  right  hand 
of  the  throne  of  God.  Are  not  sin,  Satan,  the  world 
and  the  flesh  your  enemies  ?  Then,  Jesus  and  his  people 
are  your  friends  ;  their  father  is  your  Father,  and  their 
home  shall  be  your  home.  Why  art  thou  cast  down, 
oh  my  soul ;  and  why  art  thou  disquieted  within  me? 
Hope  thou  in  God,  for  I  shall  yet  praise  him  who  is  the 
health  of  my  countenance  and  my  God.  Rejoice  not 
against  me,  oh  mine  enemy  ;  though  1  fall  yet  shall  I  rise 
again  ;  for  the  Lord  hath  spoken  good  concerning  Israel. 
He  hath  said,  I  will  be  to  them  a  God,  and  they  shall  be 
to  me  a  people  ;  I  will  put  my  laws  into  their  mind,  and 
write  them  upon  their  hearts ;  I  will  be  merciful  to 
their  unrighteousness,  and  their  sins  and  iniquities  will 
I  remember  no  more  !  I  will  never  leave  them  nor 
forsake  them  !  It  is  enough.  Thy  testimonies  have  I 
taken  for  an  heritage  for  ever,  for  they  are  the  rejoicing 
of  my  heart.  Return  unto  thy  rest  then,  oh  my  soul— 
for  we  icho  believe,  do  enter  into  rest — even  that  rest 
which  remaineth  for  the  dear  children  of  God.  May 
you  be  enabled  to  adopt  the  language  of  the  sweet 
singer  of  Israel,  and  in  the  strong  and  unwavering 
confidence  of  faith,  say  with  him,  'The  Lord  is  my 
Shepherd,  I  shall  not  want.' 

"  Our  town  has  been  remarkably  healthy  this  season. 
I  feel  as  hearty  as  I  have  for  a  year  past.  I  have  been 
strengthened  to  ride  and  preach  a  good  deal  in  the 


1G8  LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

country  during  the  summer,  and  expect  to  be  similarly 
occupied  the  greater  part  of  the  ensuing  two  months." 

The  last  sentence  affords  a  glimpse  of  the  life  of  a 
Baptist  preacher  in  the  South.  The  inhabitants  of  the 
great  cities  have  little  idea  of  the  life  they  lead.  It  has 
indeed  very  little  in  common  with  city  life.  The  road 
from  the  parsonage  to  the  meeting-house  is  not  quite  so 
short  or  easy.  The  preacher,  in  the  South,  lives  quite 
as  much  in  the  saddle  as  the  study.  The  churches  are 
widely  scattered,  and  many  of  them  destitute.  During 
the  seven  years  he  had  the  charge  of  the  church  in 
Alexandria,  Spencer  H.  Cone,  like  all  Virginia  Baptist 
preachers,  combined  the  characters  of  pastor  and  mis- 
sionary. It  was  no  doubt  from  experience  of  the 
necessities  and  destitute  condition  of  large  portions 
of  the  country,  acquired  during  that  time,  that  he 
imbibed  the  spirit  of  missions  ;  and,  especially,  laid  the 
foundation  of  that  strong  desire  for  the  support  and 
extension  of  Home  Missions  which  he  always  mani- 
fested. 

Mounted  upon  his  horse,  his  saddle-bags  behind 
him,  containing  his  little  kit,  the  young  preacher  often 
during  each  year  set  out  from  Alexandria,  to  keep  a 
round  of  "appointments."  Months,  perhaps,  before  he 
comes  to  any  particular  station,  in  the  back  country,  his 
coming  is  noised  abroad  over  all  the  neighborhood  round 
about,  and,  with  very  few  exceptions,  the  inhabitants 
prepare  to  meet  at  the  appointed  place,  and  enjoy  the 
privilege  of  listening  to  the  Word  of  the  Lord,  a  privilege 
enhanced  and  endeared  to  the  serious  portion  of  them  by 
its  rarity. 

Our  Southern  Baptist  churches  lie  widely  scattered, 
and  whilst  some  of  the  flock  are  feeding  on  the  slopes 
of  the  blue  ridge  of  the  Alleghany,  others  are  gathered 


LIFE    OF    SPENCER    HOUGHTON   CONE.  169 

in  the  valleys  and  by  the  rivers  ;  and  so  the  under 
shepherd  goes  out  with  his  staff  and  crook  to  comfort 
and  establish  on  every  side,  and  unite  in  the  spirit  of  a 
common  faith,  those  whom  the  necessities  of  life  separate 
and  disperse  so  widely. 

Sometimes,  several  preachers  will  agree  to  meet  at 
one  point.  Then  the  news  is  published,  and  a  "Meeting 
of  Days  "  is  held,  usually,  in  the  open  air ;  and  great 
concourses  of  people,  often  as  many  as  four  or  five 
thousand,  come  together,  from  the  surrounding  country, 
to  attend  them.  But  the  exercises  are  conducted  with 
the  greatest  plainness  and  propriety.  There  are  no 
extraordinary  or  unusual  means  resorted  to  to  excite  the 
imagination,  or  act  upon  the  feelings. 

Some  of  the  earlier  effects  of  his  preaching,  when  the 
extraordinary  circumstances  which  attended  him  drew 
together  audiences  of  so  heterogeneous  a  character, 
and  the  passionate  force  of  his  eloquence  wrought  so 
powerfully  upon  the  imaginations  of  his  hearers  exer- 
cised a  controlling  influence  upon  Mr.  Cone's  judgment. 
He  never  ceased  to  pray  that  "  the  Lord  would 
revive  his  work  in  the  midst  of  the  years ;"  but  it 
was  a  revival  of  pure  and  undefiled  religion  he  prayed 
for,  and  he  looked  to  God  for  its  accomplishment.  He 
could  never  believe  that  an  irreverence  approaching  to 
blasphemy,  or  a  levity,  in  the  handling  of  sacred  things, 
trenching  close  upon  buffoonery,  however  they  might 
amuse  or  stimulate  a  crowd  of  human  beings,  could  be 
acceptable  in  the  sight  of  that  God  before  whom  the 
angels  veil  their  faces,  in  awful  worship. 

With  reference  to  the  "falling  away"  of  some  whose 
feelings  had  deceived  their  hearts,  he  writes  to  his 
mother  in  January,  1821:  "  My  prospect  of  usefulness 
in  the  cause  of  a  dear  Redeemer  is  not  at  present  very 

8 


170  LIFE   OF    SPENCER   HOUGHTON    CONE. 

encouraging.  It  is  a  cold  time  with  us  in  the  church, 
and  very  few  are  inquiring  the  way  to  Zion.  Some 
neglect  to  assemble  themselves  together ;  and  others 
have  gone  ont  from  us,  to  make  it  manifest  that  they 
were  not  of  us.  But  these  things  you  know,  my 
dear  mother,  are  not  surprising.  After  an  ingathering 
there  must  be  a  sifting  time,  and  however  trying 
it  may  be,  both  to  pastor  and  people,  God  assures 
us  that  though  '  He  will  sift  the  house  of  Israel,  as 
corn  is  sifted  in  a  sieve,  yet  not  one  grain  shall  fall 
to  the  ground.'  So  true  it  is  that  whom  He  loveth,  He 
loveth  to  the  end,  and  He  will  never  leave  them  nor 
forsake  them." 

At  the  great  meetings,  or  meetings  of  days  in  Virginia 
the  exercises  are  never  varied  from  the  regular  Sabbath 
day  order  of  Baptist  worship.  In  Virginia,  indeed, 
where  the  Baptist  churches  comprised  a  very  large  por- 
tion of  the  Christian  population,  the  strictest  sim- 
plicity of  religious  manners  and  exercises  always  pre- 
vailed, and  the  "  form  of  sound  words"  was  adhered  to 
with  scrupulous  exactness. 

Amongst  these  churches  it  was  the  lot  of  the  subject 
of  this  memoir  to  serve  his  apprenticeship  in  the  Lord's 
work,  and  whatever  of  opinion,  or  doctrine,  or  idea  of 
discipline  was  unformed  in  his  mind,  at  the  commence- 
ment of  his  ministry,  very  rapidly  settled  into  an  un- 
changeable conviction,  in  that  stern  and  uncompromising 
old  school  of  Baptists. 

It  was  worthy  of  remark  that  his  opinions  and  princi- 
ples in  religious  matters  were  made  up  and  established 
in  these  early  years  of  his  ministry.  Change  of  place,  of 
association,  time,  variety  of  circumstance,  study — nothing 
ever  altered  or  varied  them  a  jot! — Converted,  he 
searched  the  Scriptures  diligently,  and  made  up  from  that 


LIFE   CF   SPENCEK    HOUGHTON   CONE.  171 

one  book  of  b^oks  his  whole  body  of  divinity.  He  had  one 
unvarying  test,  for  everything  of  a  religious  character  ; 
for  every  duty,  scheme  or  object — "Is  there  a  'thus 
saith  the  Lord  '  for  it  ?"  The  natural  temper  and  quality 
of  his  mind  had  no  doubt  a  great  deal  to  do  with  the 
stern  consistency  of  his  religious  principles.  As  convic- 
tions, they  were  rules  which  nothing  could  interfere  with 
or  modify.  The  same  was  equally  true  of  every  convic- 
tion of  duty,  whether  to  his  country  or  his  God.  At  the 
time  of  the  attack  on  Baltimore,  he  was  a  member  of  the 
church,  and  many  good  people  thought  that  he  ought  to 
resign  his  commission,  urging  that  the  shedding  of  blood 
was  sinful.  But  it  was  a  conviction  of  his  soul  that  God 
called  all  true  men  to  fight  for  liberty,  that  liberty  the 
choicest  boon  of  which  was  freedom  to  worship  Him, 
with  as  audible  and  commanding  a  voice  as  He  called 
any  to  preach  the  everlasting  Gospel ;  and  he  went 
into  battle  singing,  or  rather  humming  the  air  of  a  hymn. 
His  men  smiled  at  what  seemed  to  them  an  incongruity, 
but  they  followed  him  all  the  more  confidently.  In  his 
speech  before  the  Bible  Society  at  Baltimore,  in  1811,  he 
says,  "  I  love  my  country,  and  were  it  necessary,  should 
not  hesitate  a  moment  to  stand  forth  in  her  defence."  It  is 
therefore  certain,  from  the  peculiar  formation  of  his  mind, 
that  what  he  once  believed  he  believed  for  ever ;  and  to 
believe  with  him  was  to  act.  "  Faith  without  works  " 
he  held  to  be  "  dead."  He  examined  a  subject  very 
carefully  and  prayerfully  ;  and  never  stirred  "  without 
great  argument ;"  but  a  conclusion  arrived  at — all  the 
reasons  weighed  both  for  and  against  a  matter,  and  a 
conviction  established  in  his  mind  that  one  side  was  the 
right,  and  the  other  the  wrong — he  took  the  right  and 
went  forward  in  it  unrelentingly,  no  matter  who  opposed 
or  ridiculed,  or  combated  ;  no  matter  if  it  led  over  the 
breasts  of  his  best  friends  according  to  the  flesh  ;  no 


172  LIFE   OF  SPENCER    HOUGHTON   CONE. 

matter  who  it  alienated,  or  astonished  or  disgusted. 
The  right  was  the  right ;  there  could  be  no  two  rights 
in  the  same  matter.  One  must  be  truth  and  the 
other  error.  And  as  God  was  truth,  truth  was  the  rule 
of  God's  children.  They  must  not  hesitate,  or  compro- 
mise, or  vacillate,  or  attempt  to  combine  the  incompati- 
bilities of  truth  and  error.  Let  come  what  might,  truth 
was  to  be  spoken,  truth  was  to  be  acted  ;  truth  was  to  be 
lived  for,  and  died  for.  Therefore  he  was  a  Baptist ; 
and  if  he  had  been  the  only  particular  Baptist  alive  in 
the  whole  world,  and  all  the  world  against  him,  crying 
shame  upon  him,  deriding,  hating,  or  persecuting — he 
would  have  been  just  the  same — Baptist  to  all  extremi- 
ties. Let  us  define,  however,  what  his  opinion  of  a  true 
Baptist  was.  It  was  very  simple,  and  was,  indeed, 
merely  this  ;  that  a  true  Baptist  was  he  who  took  the  law 
of  every  act  of  his  religious  life  from  the  Bible,  and 
from  nothing  else,  and  in  whose  eyes  nothing  which  was 
ordained  of  God,  whether  as  doctrine,  discipline,  or  ordi- 
nance, could  be  non-essential !  Hence,  also,  naturally 
arose  his  intense  desire  for  a"pure  translation  of  the  Word 
of  God  into  all  languages,  his  own  not  excepted,  that 
men  might  everywhere  read  in  their  own  tongue,  and 
for  themselves,  exactly  what  God  said  to  them  by  the 
mouths  of  holy  men  of  old. 

The  Rev.  Cumberland  George,  of  Culpepper  Court- 
house Va.,  in  a  note  to  us  dated  January,  1858,  pays  a 
warm  tribute  to  his  talents  as  a  preacher,  and  to  this  his 
firm  devotion  to  the  truth.  He  says,  "  It  is  needless  for 
me  to  say  anything  about  my  recollection  of  his  hand- 
some person,  his  incomparable  voice — his  easy  diction 
and  splendid  enunciation.  *  *  *  I  heard  him  often  in 
Fredericksburg.  He  loved  to  preach  Jesus  Christ,  and 
wherever  he  went,  large  crowds  flocked  together  to  hear 
from  his  eloquent  tongu<s  the  message  of  salvation. 


LIFE   OF   SFENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE.  173 

"  In  his  attendance  on  Associational  or  other  religious 
solemnities,  or  in  the  social  circle,  there  was  something 
in  his  whole  hearing  that  seemed  to  say,  'I  have  a 
great  work  to  do,  and  for  me  there  is  no  rest,  until  it  he 
all  accomplished.'  Among  his  traits  of  character,  as 
they  appeared  to  me,  I  may  mention,  his  love  of  truth — 
his  firmness  when  his  position  was  once  taken.  It  was 
not  the  firmness  of  obstinacy,  but  it  was  the  develop- 
ment of  an  intelligent  conviction  that  he  had  the  truth 
on  his  side.  His  moral  courage  in  avowing  and  pro- 
claiming what  he  felt  to  be  true.  Although  of  kind, 
affectionate,  and  obliging  disposition,  yet  where  truth 
was  concerned,  he  had  neither  concessions  nor  compro- 
mise, to  make.  Such  to  my  mind  appeared  to  be  some 
of  the  prominent  characteristics  of  Spencer  II.  Cone,  in 
the  earlier  years  of  his  ministry.  Since  his  removal  to 
Kew  York,  I  have  not  been  an  uninterested  spectator 
of  his  public  course  ;  and  I  rejoice  to  say  there  has  been 
not) ling  in  his  eventful  life,  with  which  I  am  acquainted, 
that  has  not  served  to  confirm  in  my  mind,  my  idea  in 
early  life,  concerning  his  devoted  piety — his  zeal  for 
God — his  love  of  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus,  and  his 
dauntless  courage  in  avowing  and  maintaining:  what  he 
believed  to  be  true.  The  ability  of  Dr.  Cone  as  a 
speaker,  and  as  a  president  of  deliberative  assemblies, 
I  need  not  mention." 

Most  of  the  members  of  the  Alexandria  church,  who 
sat  under  his  ministry,  are  dead  or  scattered.  Some 
few  yet  remain,  however,  and  from  one  of  these  we 
have  obtained  several  interesting  facts. 

"I  think,"  she  says,  "it  was  during  the  summer 
either  of  1S06  or  7,  that  Mr.  Cone  first  visited  Alexan- 
dria. It  was  his  first  appearance  there,  upon  the  stage. 
The  theatre  was  a  small,  temporary  building,  erected  in 
Virginia,  outside  the  district  line.     On  the  occasion  of 


174  LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

his  first  appearance,  from  a  hundred  and  fifty  to  two 
hundred  persons  were  present.  One  fact  connected 
with  the  history  of  that  audience  is  very  peculiar,  and 
worthy  to  be  recorded — it  is  this :  that  more  than 
twenty  of  the  number  afterwards  became  members  of 
different  churches  in  Alexandria,  and  that  Mr.  Cone 
baptized  ten  of  them,  of  whom  three  were  chosen  dea- 
cons by  the  Baptist  church,  in  Alexandria,  nine  or  ten 
years  after. 

"  Whilst  on  the  stage,  Mr.  Cone  sustained  in  Alexan- 
dria, where  wTe  knew  him,  the  character  of  a  strictly 
moral  man.  His  manners  were  polished,  and  we  met 
him  only  in  the  best  society,  which  he  frequented.  On 
the  Sabbath-day,  during  that  time,  he  was  rarely  if  ever 
missed  from  his  seat  in  church.  He  was  a  gentleman 
in  character  and  standing. 

"  On  the  night  of  the  24th  of  September,  1810,  Alex- 
andria was  devastated  by  a  destructive  fire.  The  flames 
raged  all  night,  and  laid  waste  the  entire  square  on  the 
river  side  of  Union  street,  extending  from  Prince  to 
Dnke  street.  That  part  of  the  city  was  in  those  days 
occupied  by  shippers,  commission  merchants,  board 
yards,  &c.  Mr.  Cone  wa3  the  most  prominent  workman 
on  that  night.  He  exerted  every  power  of  body  and 
mind  to  combat  the  raoing  element.     From  midnight 

CD         CD  cD 

until  the  morning  of  the  25th  he  was  seen  everywhere  at 
work  amonst  the  flames.  It  is  now  forty-six  years  since 
that  night  of  terror,  but  if  there  be  a  man  still  living 
who  labored  with  him  he  can  testify  to  the  facts  stated ; 
and  that  it  was  mainly  through  his  instrumentality  that 
the  spread  of  the  conflagration  was  prevented.  Thus 
Mr.  Cone  was  a  public  character,  esteemed  and  loved  in 
the  city  of  Alexandria,  long  before  he  made  profession 
of  religion. 

"  During  the  year  1815  he  was  called  to  the  charge  of 


LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CCflSTE.  175 

the  church  there.  He  was  called,  it  is  true,  by  a  few 
poor  women — they  formed  the  whole  of  the  little  Bap- 
tist church  then  existing  in  the  city.  A  few  poor  women 
—  hut  when  our  blessed  Lord,  bending  beneath  His  cross, 
toiled  up  the  cruel  hill,  and  the  women  followed  him — 
where  was  the  church? 

"  Mr.  Cone  accepted  their  call,  and  he  was  made  the 
instrument  of  building  up  the  church  till  the  '  little  one 
became  a  thousand.'  It  was  the  privilege  of  the  church 
to  be  well  acquainted  with  their  pastor.  He  was  truly 
a  present  friend  in  joy  or  sorrow,  and  the  poor  always 
hailed  him  as  their  help  in  time  of  need.  He  stood 
high  in  our  society,  not  only  as  a  minister,  but  as  a  man 
of  literary  taste  and  ability  ;  and  we  used  to  think  that 
if  his  mission  had  been  that  of  an  author,  instead  of  the 
care  of  souls,  his  success  would  have  been  equally  bril- 
liant. I  recollect  he  commenced  the  study  of  Hebrew 
whilst  in  Alexandria.  A  gentleman,  a  fine  Hebrew 
scholar,  visited  the  city  and  was  desirous  of  making  up 
a  class.  A  number  of  professional  men  joined  it,  and 
Mr.  Cone  headed  the  list  of  scholars. 

"  In  the  missionary  cause  he  made  one  amongst  the 
very  first  laborers  in  this  country.  He  spoke  '  trumpet 
tongued,'  its  duty  to  the  church,  and  it  can  be  said  to 
their  honor  that  they  responded  to  the  Call  to  the  full 
extent  of  their  abilities.  It  was  just  the  same  in  every- 
thing ;  the  church  stood  ready  to  hold  up  his  hands  in 
every  good  word  and  wTork.  "Whatever  he  felt  it  his 
duty  to  call  them  to  engage  in,  they  were  ready  and 
willing  to  follow  in. 

u  Thirty-three  years  have  passed  since  the  ties  that 
bound  pastor  and  church  together  there  were  severed, 
by  Mr.  Cone's  removal  to  New  York;  yet  as  long  as  he 
lived,  the  church  in  Alexandria  was  bound  to  him  by 
the  cords  of  tenderness  and  affection,  and  they  now 


176  LIFE   OF    SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

mourn  with  their  sister  churches  in  New  York,  a  pastor 
and  brother  beloved  in  the  Lord,  and  children  yet 
unborn  will  be  taught  by  them  to  love  and  revere  his 
name.  Whom  he  loved  he  loved  always.  The  grave — ■ 
the  grave  only,  interrupted  his  friendships. 

"During  the  first  year  that  he  was  pastor  in  Alexandria, 
he  visited  the  Ketocton  Association.  He  had  been 
appointed  to  preach  the  introductory  sermon.  The  good 
brethren  were  anxiously  expecting  him,  and  had  formed 
their  own  'beau  ideal,'  and  one  as  unlike* the  reality  as 
possible.  When,  therefore,  a  very  young  man,  with  a 
broad-brimmed  white  hat,  a  pair  of  saddle-bags  over  one 
arm,  a  brown  holland  umbrella  under  the  other,  and 
dressed  in  a  riding-suit  of  light  grey  cloth,  made  his 
appearance,  no  one  fancied  for  an  instant  that  the  great 
preacher  could  be  amongst  them.  Wherever  he  went 
in  the  surrounding  country,  crowds  flocked  to  hear  him, 
and  on  this  occasion,  as  usual,  since  the  meeting-house 
would  not  hold  the  hundredth  part  of  the  audience 
gathered  together,  a  stand  had  been  erected  on  the 
outside,  beneath  the  trees.  The  ministering  brethren 
present  did  not  know  him,  and,  of  course,  imagined  he 
had  failed  to  fill  the  appointment,  although  he  was 
quietly  seated  amongst  them  on  the  stand. 

"The  hour  for  commencing  the  exercises  arrived,  and 
the  '  alternate  '  was  prepared  to  take  the  desk,  when  he 
rose  up,  and  uttered  the  first  two  lines  of  the  hymn  : 

"  '  I'm  not  ashamed  to  own  my  Lord, 
Or  to  defend  His  cause  !' 

"Words  fail  to  describe  the  sensation  created  among 
the  crowd,  or  the  breathless  silence  with  which  the 
sermon  was  listened  to  by  the  mixed  multitude  con- 
gregated together  on  the  occasion. 


LIFE    OF    SPENCER   HTTJGHTON   CONE.  177 

"  On  that  stand  commenced  friendships  that  cheered 
his  path  for  forty  years." 

Whilst  preaching  in  Virginia,  Dr.  John  L.  Dagg,  now 
of  Georgia,  was  also  settled  there.  They  commenced 
preaching  together;  held  the  same  views  of  doctrine, 
and  associated  very  constantly.  "We  have  been  indebted 
to  him,  very  much,  in  the  course  of  this  work,  for  valuable 
information  and  suggestions.  He  affords  us  the  follow- 
ing account  of  his  ministerial  intercourse  with  Mr.  Cone 
in  Virginia  ;  and  of  the  Father  in  the  Gospel,  of  whom 
one  was  the  spiritual  child,  the  other  an  ardent  and  life- 
long admirer. 

lie  says,  speaking  of  the  manner  of  appointments  for 
preaching  at  different  places,  and  the  character  of 
Virginia  "great  meetings,"  ''Our  chief  religious  festival 
was  at  our  associations,  which  were  usually  held  about 
the  close  of  summer,  and  lasted  from  three  to  five  days. 
They  were  generally  attended  by  large  crowds,  especially 
on  the  Sabbath.  A  stand  was  erected  in  a  grove  near 
the  meeting-house,  where  preaching  was  kept  up  from 
day  to  day  ;  and  sometimes  another  stand  for  the  colored 
members  of  the  congregation. 

"The  meeting-house  was  reserved  for  the  transaction 
of  the  business  of  the  association,  except  on  the  Sabbath  ; 
and  on  that  day  was  wholly  insufficient  to  accommodate 
the  multitudes  assembled.  At  those  great  gatherings, 
Mr.  Cone's  voice  was  often  heard  proclaiming  the  Gospel 
of  Christ;  and  he  was  usually  selected  as  one  of  the 
preachers  for  the  Sabbath.  No  doubt  many  now  living 
in  Virginia,  remember  the  discourses  heard  from  him  on 
such  occasions  with  pleasure.  On  his  journeys  to  and 
from  the  associations,  it  was  his  custom  to  have  appoint- 
ments made  at  suitable  preaching  places.  Besides  these 
annual  occasions,  he  often  took  excursions  into  the  neigh- 
boring counties,  and  preached  the  Word.     He  sent  his 


178  LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

appointments  previously,  by  letter,  to  some  of  us,  who 
were  always  solicitous  to  obtain  them,  and  glad  to  make 
them  public.  In  this  manner  he  scattered  much  seed, 
which,  I  doubt  not,  will  produce  fruit  in  the  great 
harvest,  and  add  to  the  number  of  the  sheaves  over 
which  he  will  rejoice." 

Speaking  of  the  character  of  the  men  with  whom  Mr. 
Cone  associated,  and  in  the  school  of  whose  experience 
and  wisdom  his  character  as  a  preacher  of  the  Gospel 
was  formed,  Dr.  Dagg  continues  : 

';  Fristoe  was  the  Gamaliel  at  whose  feet  I  sat  in  early 
life.  I  was  baptized,  licensed,  and  ordained  by  him  ;  and 
under  his  instruction  my  views  of  divine  truth  were 
formed.  It  is  altogether  probable  that  your  father's 
association  with  this  able  and  revered  father  in  the  Gos- 
pel was  useful  to  him.  I  am  aware  that  he  admired  the 
talents  of  this  aged  divine,  and  had  great  confidence  in 
the  soundness  of  his  theological  opinions  ;  and  I  know, 
also,  that  Fristoe  esteemed  him  highly,  and  used  to  hear 
him  preach  gladly. 

"On  one  occasion,  when  greatly  pleased  wTith  the  sing- 
ing of  a  young  female  member  of  the  Alexandria  church, 
he  pleasantly  remarked  to  her,  '  Why,  sister,  you  sing 
almost  as  wTell  as  Cone  preaches.' 

"  The  pioneer  Baptist  minister  of  Virginia,  was  David 
Thomas,  who  went  forth  from  the  Philadelphia  Baptist 
Association,  and  labored  with  success  in  the  northeas- 
tern part  of  the  State.  William  and  Daniel  Fristoe  were 
baptized  by  him  at  Chappawamsic,  eight  miles  from 
Dumfries,  and  became  eminent  and  laborious  ministers 
of  Christ. 

"  The  churches  formed  under  the  ministry  of  Mr. 
Thomas  were  at  first  attached  to  the  Philadelphia  Asso- 
ciation ;  but  afterwards,  when  three  in  number,  they 
formed  an  association  of  their  own,  wThich  was  called 


LIFE   OF   SPENCEK   HOUGHTON   CONE.  179 

Ketocton,  from  the  place  of  its  first  meetings.  At  this 
first  meeting  of  the  first  Virginia  Association,  William 
Fristoe  was  present,  and  he  lived  and  labored  during 
all  that  period  in  which  the  Baptists  of  Virginia  suffered 
persecution  from  the  civil  power.  He  was  therefore  a 
Baptist,  tried,  and  true-hearted.  The  fear  of  suffering 
never  turned  him  away  from  steadfast  adherence  to  the 
truth,  or  silenced  his  voice.  He  was  one  of  those  who 
struggled  amidst  the  persecutions,  to  obtain  that  religious 
liberty  in  which  now  our  whole  land  rejoices.  His 
firm  adherence  to  sound  principles  underwent  even  a 
severer  tost  than  that  which  persecution  applied.  The 
Philadelphia  Baptists  maintained  the  system  of  faith 
usually  styled  Calvin istic,  which  is  set  forth  in  their 
confession  of  faith.  This  doctrine  was  at  first  taught  by 
Mr.  Thomas,  but  after  a  time  he  was  thought  to  waver 
in  his  exhibition  of  it.  In  one  of  his  public  discourses, 
he  said,  "  Who  was  John  Calvin?  A  persecuting  bigot. 
Who  was  James  Arminius?  A  meek  and  humble  disci- 
ple of  Christ.'  In  this  strain  he  contrasted  the  char- 
acters of  the  two  men,  giving  preference  to  the  latter; 
and  was  understood  to  give  a  like  preference  to  the  sys- 
tem of  doctrines  which  he  taught.  The  young  disciples 
were  grieved  that  their  father  in  the  Gospel  had  departed 
from  the  truth,  as  they  had  first  learned  it  from  him ; 
and  they  held  a  private,  sorrowful  meeting,  to  determine 
what  ought  to  be  done  in  the  case.  At  this  meeting  it 
was  decided  to  be  their  duty  to  labor,  as  children  with 
a  beloved  parent,  to  bring  back  their  spiritual  guide  to 
the  good  old  path  from  which  he  was  wandering.  "Wil- 
liam Fristoe  was  selected  to  perform  this  very  delicate 
and  responsible  service.  Tremblingly,  yet  firmly,  he 
approached  the  venerated  man.  reminded'  him  of  the 
truth  which  they  had  once  learned  from  his  lips,  and 
reasoned  with  him  out  of  the  Scriptures.     His  mission 


180  LIFE   OF   SPENCEK   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

appears  to  have  been  successful,  for  confidence  in  the 
orthodoxy  of  their  spiritual  leader  was  afterwards  res- 
tored. 

"  Such  a  man,  firm  in  every  emergency,  steadfast  in 
the  truth,  and  zealous  for  its  propagation,  was  William 
Fristoe ;  and  that  your  father's  ministry  had  the  appro- 
bation and  confidence  of  such  a  man,  was  no  ordinary 
praise." 

Whenever  Mr.  Cone  spoke  of  old  Father  Fristoe,  he 
would  shake  his  head  and  say  emphatically  : 

"Ah!  he  was  a  powerful  preacher.  He  understood 
the  truth,  and  knew  how  to  make  it  understood.  lie 
was  the  best  preacher  I  ever  heard.'1 

On  the  subject  of  his  early  acquaintance  with  Mr. 
Cone;  of  his  labors  in  Yirginia,  and  the  character  of 
his  eloquence,  Dr.  Dagg  says : 

"  Brother  Cone  and  I  entered  the  Gospel  ministry 
about  the  same  time ;  he  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  I 
in  Loudon  County,  Virginia,  separated  from  the  District 
only  by  the  County  of  Fairfax.  We  soon  became 
acquainted  with  each  other,  and  a  friendship  commenced 
which  nothing  ever  disturbed.  I  loved  him  most  sin- 
cerely, and  felt  honored  by  the  confidence  and  affection 
with  which  he  ever  regarded  me.  As  one  by  one  the  asso- 
ciates of  my  early  days  have  been  removed  to  the 
unseen  world,  I  have  rejoiced  that  he  was  spared  so  long 
as  a  fellow-laborer  in  the  Lord's  cause,  and  that  he  was 
permitted  to  render  so  important  service  to  the  genera- 
tion in  which  our  lot  was  cast. 

"  Soon  after  he  began  to  preach,  his  fame  spread 
through  the  neighboring  country,  and  I,  in  common 
with  many  others,  felt  a  strong  desire  to  see  and  hear 
one  of  whom  so  much  was  said.  This  privilege  I 
enjoyed  on  the  morning  of  March  31st,  1818,  when  I 
heard  him  preach  in  the  Baptist  meeting- house  in  Alex- 


LIFE   OF    SPENCER    HOUGHTON    CONE.  181 

andria,  where  he  was  pastor.  His  text  was  Ilosea,  6,  1. 
His  sermon  was  experimental,  and  well  adapted  to  affect 
the  heart.  After  he  descended  from  the  pulpit,  I  was 
introduced  to  him  by  a  friend,  and  received  from  him  a 
gentle  reproof,  for  not  having  made  myself  known  before 
the  services  commenced.  Finding  I  had  an  appoint- 
ment for  the  next  day,  to  preach  for  a  church  a  few 
miles  from  the  town,  he  arranged  to  ride  out  with  me. 
Thus  our  personal  acquaintance  commenced.  On  being 
invited  to  visit  our  neighborhood,  lie  readily  consented 
to  do  so  ;  and  frequently  afterwards,  his  voice  was  heard 
in  our  churches,  proclaiming  the  salvation  of  Jesus. 
Multitudes  thronged  to  hear,  and  many  received  the 
word  with  joy. 

"Though  his  ministry  attracted  attention,  his  course 
was  not  that  of  a  revivalist.  His  chief  success  was  at 
the  place  where  he  regularly  labored.  Here,  it  may  be 
said,  a  continual  revival  existed,  from  the  time  he 
accepted  the  pastoral  charge  to  the  day  of  his  removal. 
"Without  noise,  or  the  extraordinary  effort  of  protracted 
meetings,  the  increase  of  the  church  was  constant,  and 
the  interest  in  spiritual  things  continued  and  active. 

"The  church  at  Alexandria,  when  he  became  its  pastor, 
belonged  to  the  Baltimore  Association.  This  Associa- 
tion, at  that  time,  was  under  the  influence  of  Anti- 
Mission  principles.  In  decided  opposition  to  these 
principles,  the  benevolence  of  Brother  Cone's  heart 
prompted  him  to  labor  for  the  conversion  of  the  world, 
and  to  favor  every  judicious  effort  to  extend  the 
Kingdom  of  Christ.  He  found  more  congeniality  of 
feeling  among  the  brethren  south  of  the  Potomac  ;  and 
as  a  proposal  to  divide  the  Ketocton  Association  of 
Virginia  had  been  for  several  years  under  consideration, 
he  favored  the  plan,  and  assisted  to  originate  the  Colum- 
bia Association,  which  was  formed  out  of  the  Ketocton 


182  LITE    OF    SrENCEE   HOUGHTON    CONE. 

Association,  with  the  addition  of  the  churches  at  Alex- 
andria and  Washington  City.  By  this  change  he  was 
brought  into  more  immediate  connection  with  the 
Virginia  Baptists,  who  regarded  him  as  one  of  their 
ablest  ministers,  and  have  ever  held  him  in  high  esteem. 
Though  his  forwardness  to  aid  in  the  benevolent  enter- 
prises of  the  day  was  abundantly  manifested  during  his 
residence  in  Alexandria,  it  had  a  wider  field  of  opera- 
tion, and  was  productive  of  more  important  results,  after 
his  removal  to  ISTew  York. 

"  As  a  public  speaker,  Brother  Cone  possessed  extraor- 
dinary endowments.  Such  was  his  command  of  language, 
that  in  all  the  sermons  which  I  ever  heard  him  preach, 
he  never,  so  far  as  I  remember,  hesitated  for  a  word,  or 
recalled  one  that  had  dropped  from  his  lips.  Yet  his 
words  conveyed  his  thoughts  perspicuously  and  expres- 
sively. They  bore  no  marks  of  previous  study,  and 
betrayed  no  ambition  for  literary  reputation  ;  but  they 
came  spontaneously  to  render  the  service  which  he 
required,  and  took  their  places  in  primer  order.  His 
gestures  were  simple,  appropriate,  and  graceful.  I  have 
known  orators  who  could  exhibit  more  of  dazzling 
brilliance,  or  who  could  take  loftier  and  bolder  flights, 
or  who  could  put  in  motion  a  deeper  tide  of  feeling.  His 
eloquence  was  more  uniform  and  rendered  his  discourse 
throughout  interesting  and  attractive.  His  voice  cor- 
responded to  the  style  of  his  eloquence.  He  did  not 
sometimes  thunder,  and  at  other  times  whisper  ;  but  he 
proceeded  throughout  his  discourse  with  an  utterance 
even,  distinct,  firm  and  strong,  and  yet  with  sweetly 
varied  modulation,  and  with  appropriate  and  expressive 
emphasis.  On  visiting  an  association  in  Virginia,  where 
he  had  never  preached,  he  rose  in  the  progress  of  the 
business,  to  make  a  few  remarks  on  a  subject  which 
was  under  discussion;  and  although  he  made  no  effort, 


LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE.  1S3 

and  designed  to  produce  no  special  effect,  the  tones  of 
Lis  voice  not  only  iixed  the  attention  of  all  who  were 
within  the  building,  hut  caused  many  who  were  outside 
to  enter  immediately.  In  the  pulpit  he  was  ever  solemn, 
ever  earnest ;  and  addressed  his  hearers  as  one  who  bore 
to  them  a  message  from  God.  ■  All  felt  that  he  believed 
what  he  spoke. 

"He  was  a  firm  believer  in  that  system  of  doctrine 
which  ascribes  the  salvation  of  men  to  the  free  grace  of 
God.  He  maintained  that  men  are  by  nature  totally 
depraved  and  helpless  ;  that  they  can  be  justified  only 
by  the  righteousness  of  Christ ;  that  they  can  be  renewed 
and  sanctified  only  by  the  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit; 
and  that  salvation  throughout  is  God's  work,  in  which 
he  fulfills  his  eternal  purpose  and  displays  his  sovereign 
love.  In  presenting  these  truths,  he  never  lost  sight  of 
man's  obligation  to  obey  the  law  of  God,  and  to  repent 
and  believe  the  Gospel.  He  preached  the  truth  boldly  ; 
not  shunning  to  declare  the  whole  counsel  of  God.  He 
was  a  decided  Baptist.  His  maintenance  of  Baptist 
principles  awakened  considerable  opposition,  in  the 
early  part  of  his  ministry  in  Alexandria;  but  while  he 
treated  with  courtesy  those  who  differed  from  him,  he 
freely  discussed,  in  his  own  pulpit,  the  points  of  difference, 
and  convinced  many  who  came  to  hear.  These  discus- 
sions were  not  conducted  in  the  spirit  of  angry  con- 
troversy ;  but  the  love  of  souls  predominated,  and 
opposers  were  at  the  same  time  converted  to  God, 
and  to  the  faith  which  they  had  despised. 

"His  walk  as  a  Christian,  and  his  work  as  a  pastor, 
were  in  harmony  with  his  pulpit  ministrations.  In 
everything  he  exhibited  the  man  of  God.  He  taught 
the  road  to  Heaven  and  led  the  way. 

"  Brotherly  love  filled  a  large  place  in  his  heart.  In 
his  intercourse  with  brethren,  when  present,  he  was  kind 


184  LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

and  courteous  ;  and  when  absent,  lie  scrupulously  avoided 
speaking  ill  of  any  one.  With  his  biethrenin  the  ministry 
he  cultivated  the  most  friendly  relations  ;  and  during 
that  part  of  his  life  in  which  I  was  most  intimate  with 
him,  there  was  but  one  minister  with  whom  I  ever 
knew  him  to  have  any  difficulty,  and  he  was  a  man  of 
intolerant  spirit,  who  did  not  hesitate  to  denounce  from 
the  pulpit  those  who  would  not  subscribe  to  his  anti- 
nomian  creed.  To  refute  the  unfounded  allegations  of 
such  a  man  became  a  Christian  duty. 

"  But  love  to  his  Master's  cause  was  his  rulingpassion. 
This  prompted  his  efforts,  and  rendered  him  indefatigable 
in  his  toils.  As  he  felt  and  labored,  so  he  taught  his 
people  to  feel  and  labor  ;  and  abundant  proof  of  the 
tendency  and  effect  of  his  instructions  appears  in  the 
amount  of  the  contributions  for  religious  purposes  which 
he  always  succeeded  in  obtaining  from  those  to  whom 
he  ministered. 

"  When  such  a  man  falls  in  Israel,  Zion  may  well 
mourn.  In  his  death  another  Jonathan  has  been  taken, 
and  my  heart  is  torn  and  bleeding.  It  seeks  relief  in 
the  thought,  that  the  days  of  mourning  will  soon  be 
past.  The  time  of  conflict  and  separation  will  soon  be 
over,  and  we  shall  meet  in  the  grand  triumph  above. 

"  When  he  fought  the  enemies  of  his  country  at  North 
Point,  I,  too,  was  under  arms  in  a  different  regiment ; 
and  though  not  in  the  battle,  wTas  so  near,  as  to  see  the 
smoke  of  the  conflict  in  which  he  was  engaged,  and  in 
which  the  leader  of  the  invading  host  received  his  death 
wound.  When  we  were  afterwards  fellow-soldiers  in  a 
nobler  cause,  it  was  still  his  to  occupy  a  more  prominent 
position,  and  to  perform  more  active  service  ;  and  it  was 
mine,  while  laboring  to  do  the  humbler  duty  assigned 
me,  to  witness  his  prowess  and  achievements,  and  rejoice 
in  his  success.    And  in  the  great  day,  when  Upi  shall  lay 


LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE.  185 

his  crown  at  the  Saviour's  feet,  and  the  multitudes  who 
have  been  converted  by  his  instrumentality  shall  be  as 
stars  in  his  diadem  ;  though  I  cannot  claim  equal  honor, 
I  hope  to  share  with  him,  in  some  humble  measure,  the 
joy  of  our  common  Lord." 


186  LIFE   OF    SPENCER   HOUGHTON    CONE. 


CHAPTER  X. 


CATHARINE    AND    ELIZA    CONE. 


Catharine  and  Eliza  were  the  youngest  of  his  four 
sisters.  Catharine  married  Mr.  John  Norvell,  his 
partner  in  the  "Baltimore  Whig,"  and  afterwards 
United  States  Senator,  from  Michigan.  Eliza  became 
the  wife  of  James  Leslie,  Esq.,  of  Philadelphia.  Both 
married  when  very  young,  and  died  early. 

Mrs.  Nbrvell  was  a  woman  of  remarkable  sweetness 
of  disposition,  and  singular  personal  beauty.  After  her 
conversion  and  baptism,  she  was  distinguished  by  an 
ardent  faith.  The  grace  of  God  developed  and  heightened 
the  natural  graces  of  her  character,  and  deepened  the 
tenderness  of  her  heart  in  an  uncommon  manner.  Such 
was  the  gentleness  of  her  spirit,  that  under  the  most 
severe  trials  and  sicknesess,  she  was  never  known  or 
heard,  by  any,  to  repine,  or  indulge  in  a  harsh  or  hasty 
word.  With  a  highly  cultivated  mind,  and  great  natural 
humor  and  quickness  of  perception,  she  had  also  a  meek- 
ness and  forbearance,  which  prevented  her  from  ever 
wounding  the  dullest  or  most  ignorant.  She  was,  from 
the  testimony  of  all  who  knew  her,  a  thing  framed  by 
nature  to  be  loved.  Her  brother,  indeed,  and  his  wife, 
loved  her  with  the  most  absolute  and  tender  affection. 
Neither  of  them  ever  spoke  of  her  except  as  of  some- 
thing too  pure  and  exquisitely  sensitive  for  the  rough 
uses  of  the  hard  world  vTe  live  in.  Happily  for  herself, 
she  wrent  Home  very  young. 

The  thought  which  lay  nearest  his  heart  after  his  own 


LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE.  1S7 

conversion,  was  those  dear  sisters.  A  never-ceasing 
anxiety  urged  him  on  their  behalf.  Although  separated 
from  them  by  distance,  he  must  preach  to  them  the 
Gospel  ?  lie  must  continually  warn  and  entreat  them 
—no  matter  whether  they  would  hear  or  forbear. 

"While  I  live,"  he  exclaims,  "and  you  remain  un- 
regenerate,  you  must  expect  and  bear  from  me  the 
warning  voice.  How  can  you  escape  if  you  neglect  so 
great  salvation?  In  whose  arms  can  you  be  eternally 
secure,  should  you  continue  to  turn  a  deaf  ear  to  the 
voice  of  the  heavenly  charmer?  Are  you  unable  of 
yourselves  to  flee  into  the  strong  tower?  Your  want  of 
strength  is  a  good  plea — Christ  died  for  sinners  is  a 
better  :  urge  them  both  at  a  throne  of  Grace,  again  and 
again,  and  may  God  have  mercy  upon  your  precious, 
immortal  souls !" 

His  warning  voice  was  not  raised  in  vain.  His  letters, 
warm  with  fraternal  love,  and  preaching  unceasingly  to 
them  the  whole  Gospel  of  Christ,  were  amongst  the 
means  blessed  to  their  conversion.  Catharine,  the 
gentlest  and  most  teachable  of  all,  was  earliest  gathered 
into  the  fold  of  the  Good  Shepherd.  Fragile  and  delicate, 
the  consumptive  tendencies  of  her  constitution  heightened 
for  a  time  the  bloom  of  apparent  health,  and  lent  to  her 
complexion  the  dazzling  brilliancy  and  clearness  with 
which  the  disease  flatters  its  victims  as  it  plants  upon 
their  cheeks  the  roses  of  the  grave.  Very  soon,  however, 
after  the  birth  of  her  second  child,  the  sad  flowers  began 
to  fade,  and  the  melancholy  brightness  of  the  varying 
hectic  only  remained. 

They  took  her  away  to  the  quiet  country,  still  hoping 
that  change  of  air  and  scene,  and  the  influences  of  a 
milder  climate,  the  peaceful  repose  of  nature,  and  the 
watchful  care  of  those  who  loved  her,  might  at  least 
retard  awhile  the  advances  of  the  disease.     It  was  a 


188  LIFE    OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON    CONE. 

vain  hope.  But  if  the  angel  of  death  watched  near  her, 
waiting  for  her  spirit,  it  was  only  as  the  messenger  of 
the  mightier  Angel  of  the  Covenant,  and  to  bear  her 
home  clothed  in  the  white  garment  of  His  salvation. 

Amongst  her  brother's  papers  there  is  a  little  book  of 
hers,  containing  some  scraps  of  a  diary  which  she 
appears  to  have  tried  to  keep  whilst  absent.  A  few 
pages  only  are  filled,  and  the  handwriting  shows  that 
the  effort  to  write  was  a  painful  one.  All  the  sweetness 
of  her  character,  and  earnest  faith  may  however  be  read 
in  those  few  sentences — they  open  the  whole  volume  of 
her  heart. 

"July  10th. — Through  mercy  I  am  spending  a  month 
or  two  in  the  country  for  the  benetit  of  my  health.  Let 
me  never  forget,  oh!  my  Father,  whose  kind  hand 
sustains  me,  and  softens  the  couch  of  my  suffering. 
May  a  repining  temper  be  ever  far  from  me ;  but  let  me 
at  all  times  say,  it  is  the  Lord  !  let  Him  do  what  seemeth 
to  Him  good.  I  desire  to  feel  and  acknowledge  the 
happiness  of  having  a  Christian  friend  in  this  solitude. 
May  we  strengthen  each  other  in  the  strait  path  that 
leads  to  life,  and  go  on  our  way  rejoicing. 

"July  11th. — Hitherto  the  Lord  hath  helped  me,  and 
shall  I  now  be  afraid  ?  His  afflicting  hand  is  on  my 
dear  hoy,  and  whether  it  be  unto  death  or  no  who 
can  tell ;  but  all  that  I  am,  and  all  that  I  have  are  His. 
The  Lord  gives  and  takes  away — blessed  be  His  holy 
name ! 

''Keep  me  this  day,  oh,  our  Father  !  from  presumptu- 
ous sins.  Let  hot  the  enemy  of  souls  have  occasion  for 
rejoicing  ;  but  strengthen  me  by  Thy  grace  to  fight  with 
true  courage  ;  to  put  to  flight  all  my  cruel  adversaries, 
and  enable  me  to  sing  glory,  and  honor,  and  dominion, 
and  power  to  the  Lamb  who  makes  us~  more  than 
conquerors  through  His  precious  blood.    Bless  the  Lord 


LIFE   OF    SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE.  189 

oli,  my  soul  !  and  all  that  is  within  me  bless  and 
magnify  His  holy  name,  for  He  has  mercy  upon  those 
who  have  none  to  help  them. 

"July  12th. — Help  me  to  see  Thy  hand  in  my  present 
trial,  and  in  every  case  where  Thou  seest  proper  to  take 
my  idols  from  me.  Is  it  a  proof  that  I  am  a  child 
of  God  ?  Let  me  then  take  the  cup  joyfully,  and  drink  it 
to  the  very  dregs.  Yet,  if  not  inconsistent  with  Thy  holy 
will,  I  humbly  desire  that  the  physician  who  will 
shortly  attend  my  sick  lamb,  may  be  sent  of  Thee,  and 
through  Thy  mercy  save  his  precious  life.  But  if  Thou 
hast  ordered  it  otherwise,  though  Thou  slay  me,  yet  will 
I  trust  in  Thee. 

"July  13th. — Let  this  day  also  be  Thine,  oh,  my  Father, 
who  art  in  Heaven.  Thou  hast  shown  mercy  to  me  in 
saving  my  dear  child — may  he  be  saved  eternally — oh, 
that  his  soul  may  live  before  Thee.  I  have  desired  this 
one  thing  for  myself — my  beloved  husband ;  my  chil- 
dren ;  my  dear  sisters  and  friends  who  are  out  of  Christ 
— that  they — that  we  all  might  have  an  interest  in  the 
atoning  blood  that  was  shed  on  Calvary.  Oh,  deny  me 
not  before  I  die  !     Give  me  to  see  Thy  great  salvation. 

"July  16th. — It  is  the  Sabbath  !  Rest,  oh  my  soul,  from 
all  thy  works,  and  take  hold  of  Christ  and  His  righteous- 
ness as  thy  portion  and  eternal  rest.  I  have  been 
reading  the  14th  chapter  of  John.  What  consoling 
lano-uao-e  does  our  Elder  Brother  there  use — '  Let  not 
your  heart  be  troubled  !'  Oh,  what  height  and  depth, 
what  length  and  breadth  is  there  in  the  love  of  God  to 
us.  'I  am  the  way,  the  truth  and  the 'life.'  Lord  I 
feel  it.  Keep  me  in  the  way,  for  Thou  art  able  to  save 
unto  the  uttermost.  '  I  will  not  leave  you  comfortless.' 
Lord,  it  is  too  much  !  Oh,  what  grace.  Plow  does  my 
ingratitude  rise  in  array  against  me.  How  hateful  is 
sin,  especially  my  sins,  which  have  grieved  the  Com- 


190  LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

forter  and  caused  Him  to  leave  roe  in  doubt  and 
darkness.  Am  I  not  a  hell-deserving-  sinner?  Yes, yes! 
Magnify  Thy  goodness  Thou  Saviour  of  sinners,  by 
bestowing  upon  me — even  me — a  portion  of  that  peace 
which  Thou  gavest  to  Thy  disciples  on  leaving  them, 
that  peace  which  passeth  all  understanding. 

Aug.  6th,  1820. — The  sun  is  setting  and  the  sober  mists 
of  evening  are  stealing  over  the  face  of  nature.  Alas ! 
how  mournful  are  the  reflections  of  those  who,  on  look- 
ing over  their  past  lives,  can  dwell  upon  no  one  solitary 
action  that  has  been  truly  Godly  ;  all  springing  from  a 
corrupt  source ;  all  the  streams  and  rills  poisoned  from 
the  fountain.  And  does  not  sin  and  folly  mark  all  my 
actions  ?     Lord  save  me  from  myself— I  loathe  myself." 

The  summer-time  faded  ;  the  winter  came.  The  poor 
broken  flower  drooped  more  and  more;  but  with  the  open- 
ing spring  the  Master  took  it  and  planted  it  in  His  own 
garden,  where  the  heat  of  summer  never  scorches,  nor 
the  winter  cold  can  blight.  It  was  a  happy  passing  from 
earth  to  Heaven.  Her  husband's  letter,  referred  to  in 
the  following  one  of  her  brother  Spencer,  gave  an 
affecting  detail  of  her  last  hours.  That  letter  has 
unfortunately  been  lost.  It  was  most  probably  destroyed 
in  the  fire  of  April  1822,  in  Alexandria.  This  fire  was, 
on  many  accounts,  a  disastrous  event.  The  house  in 
which  he  lived  at  the  time,  was  a  large  three-story  brick 
building  on  King  street.  Tsext  door  to  it  was  a  cabinet- 
maker's shop.  Some  boards  carelessly  left,  to  dry  upon 
a  stove  were  the  cause  of  the  fire.  Mr.  Cone's  house 
was  in  flames,  for  it  was  midnight  when  the  fire  took, 
before  any  of  the  inmates  were  awakened.  He  had 
collected  quite  a  valuable  library,  which  was  totally 
destroyed.  The  greatest  loss  however,  were  the  letters 
and  papers  relating  to  his  early  life.  Amongst  them 
was  an  autobiography  which   lie  had   prepared.     He 


LIFE    OF    SPENCER    HOUGHTON    CONE.  191 

constantly  promised  to  re-write  it,  but  in  the  multiplic- 
ity of  his  duties  and  engagements  be  never  found  time 
to  do  so. 

The  house  was  entirely  consumed.  The  family,  barely 
escaping  with  their  lives,  found  refuge  in  the  hospitable 
mansion  of  Mrs.  Edmonds,  a  member  of  the  church,  and 
very  dear  friend,  by  whom  everything  that  kindness 
could  suggest  was  done  to  make  them  forget  their  loss 
and  terror.  The  other  friends  were  equally  kind. 
Sympathy  for  his  loss  was  not  indeed  confined  to  the 
city  of  Alexandria,  for  we  find  by  a  letter  from  Rev.  S. 
W.  Lynd  that  the  little  church  in  Bordentown,  New 
Jersey,  took  up  a  collection,  and  with  many  apologies  for 
its  smallness,  but  with  a  warm  expression  of  sympathy, 
worth  much  more  than  money,  sent  it  to  him.  Mr. 
Lynd  had  been  converted  through  his  instrumentality; 
by  hearing  him  preach  during  the  autumn  of  1818, 
in  Sansom  street  meeting-house,  Philadelphia,  from  the 
words  "Remember  now  thy  Creator  in  the  days  of  thy 
youth."  "  This  discourse,"  Mr.  Lynd  writes  to  him,  May 
12th,  1820,  "  was  the  means  of  bringing  me  to  that  serious 
reflection,  which  I  have  reason  to  believe  resulted  in  my 
conversion  to  God.  On  that  memorable  occasion  I 
went  to  the  house  of  God  to  see  the  crowd,  hear 
the  preacher,  and  gratify  a  vain  curiosity — and  I  adore 
the  mercy  of  Jehovah  who  turned  it  to  my  profit." 

On  the  9th  of  April,  1821,  Mr.  Cone,  writing  to  his 
mother  words  of  Christian  consolation  on  the  subject 
of  his  sister  Catharine's  death,  says,  "  When  Abraham 
had  received  the  child  of  promise,  when  the  termination 
of  his  earthly  career  was  at  hand,  and  when  perhaps  the 
good  old  man  thought  his  work  of  faith  and  patience  of 
hope,  and  labor  of  love  were  ended,  and  he  had  nothing 
to  do  but  to  die,  even  then  it  pleased  his  Heavenly 


192  LIFE   OF    SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

Father  to  test  his  obedience,  and  prove  his  fidelity,  by 
a  trial  more  severe  than  any  lie  had  previously  known. 
'Take  now  thy  son,  thine  only  son  Isaac,  whom  thou 
lovest,  and  offer  him  for  a  burnt  offering.'  How  many 
and  how  powerful  the  objections,  arguments,  and 
entreaties,  which  nature  would  instantaneously  urge 
against  such  a  command  ;  but  grace  teaches  to  submit ; 
grace  enables  to  say  '  Father  not  my  will,  but  Thine  be 
done;'  grace  strengthens  us  to  trust  God  where  we 
cannot  trace  him,  under  the  assured  conviction  '  That 
all  things  work  together  for  good  to  them  that  love  God, 
to  them  who  are  thus  called  according  to  his  purpose.' ': 

"  We  have  bid  adieu,  for  a  short  season,  to  our  beloved 
Catharine.  'The  Master  came  and  called  for  her,'  and 
I  believe  that  he  who  loved  Lazarus,  Martha,  and  Mary, 
loved  Catharine  too.  I  suppose  Isaac  never  found 
a  fonder  place  in  the  bosom  of  the  Patriarch  than  she 
did  in  yours,  my  mother.  May  you  tread  in  the  foot- 
steps of  the  'friend  of  God,'  and  since,  like  him,  your 
heaviest  trial  has  come  upon  you  in  your  old  age,  may 
you  like  him,  '  be  strong  in  faith,  giving  glory  to  God." 
Remember,  our  sister  is  not  dead,  she  sleepeth — she  is 
not  lost,  but  gone  before ;  and  now  we  have  one  tie  less 
to  earth,  and  one  silken  cord  more  in  heaven. 

"  On  Saturday  I  received  from  Mr.  JSTorvell  along  and 
most  interesting  letter,  detailing  many  of  the  circum- 
stances connected  with  the  last  sickness  and  death  of  our 
dear  Catharine.  How  wonderfully  she  was  supported  ; 
oh,  how  boundless  the  mercy  and  goodness  of  God  ! 
'Tis  He  who  enables  the  dying  Christian  to  say,  '  Though 
my  heart  and  my  strength  fail,  yet  Pie  is  the  strength 
of  my  heart  and  my  portion  for  ever  !"  We  ought  to 
rejoice  at  such  a  death — we  ought  to  rejoice  that  our 
loss  is  hei  unspeakable  and  eternal  gain ;  and  that  she 


LIFE    OF    SPENCER    HOYGHTON    CONE.  193 

jow  knows,  '  that  it  is  far  better  to  depart  and  be  with 
Christ,'  than  tarry  longer  in  a  world  of  disappointment 

sickness,  sorrow,  and  sin. 

"  Poor  Sally  seems  as  if  she  could  hardly  be  reconciled 
to  her  death,  and  her  eyes  fill  with  tears  every  time  she 
is  mentioned,  but  we  shall  meet  where  parting  is  no 
more !  the  Lamb  shall  lead  us  to  the  fountain  of  living 
Maters,  and  God  Himself  shall  wipe  away  all  tears  from 
our  eyes." 

Hardly  three  years  passed  before  the  angel  of  death 
knocked  again  at  the  door  of  the  little  family,  which  had 
loved  so  well,  and  had  been  so  bound  up  in  each  other's 
lives.  His  next  younger  sister  followed  Catharine  home 
to  heaven.  Gay,  and  careless  as  she  was  beautiful,  the 
influences  with  which  she  was  surrounded,  the  admoni- 
tions of  her  brother,  the  daily  conversation  of  her 
mother,  not  even  the  death  of  her  darling  sister,  whom 
she  had  nursed  to  the  last  with  sleerjless  devotion,  had 
appeared  ever  to  affect  her,  or  strike  her  with  a  serious 
thought.  She  was  the  sprite  of  the  family,  full  of  fun 
and  mischief.  Referring  to  her  characteristics,  her 
brother,  writing  from  Alexandria  in  1821,  says  : 

"Tell  Betsey  that  Wallace  is  her  build  to  a  fraction, 
and  when  engaged  in  mischief,  has  exactly  her  left  arm 
crook,  and  tiptoe  mince." 

Suddenly  the  symptoms  of  disease  developed  them- 
selves in  her.  The  course  of  the  malady  was  rapid,  and 
the  laughing,  high-spirited  woman  was  laid  weak  and 
helpless  on  a  bed,  from  which  none  could  afford  her  a 
hope  of  rising.  Amongst  her  brother's  letters,  there 
remains  but  a  single  one  of  this  dear  sister's  ;  that  one 
has  been  preserved  with  a  care  evidently  attributable  to 
the  character  of  its  contents.  It  is  dated  April  17th, 
1823,  hist  about  the  period  when  he  was  making  the 
final  arrangements  for  his  removal  to  New  York.     His 

9 


194  LIFE   OF   SPENCEK   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

wife  and  children  having  already  come  on  northwards 
as  far  as  Philadelphia. 

"Beloved  brother,"  she  says,  "  as  Sally  tells  me  you 
will  have  but  a  few  hours  to  stay  with  us  on  your  way  to 
New  York,  I  thought  I  would  prepare  you  by  a  few 
lines,  for  debility  prevents  my  sending  many,  for  a 
circumstance  that  will  not  more  surprise,  than  it  will 
overjoy  a  Christian  brother's  heart.  Does  it  seem  possi- 
ble that  I — I  who  have,  for  so  many  years,  been  hard- 
ening my  heart  in  iniquity,  should,  on  what  appears 
to  be  a  dying  bed — have  it  sweetly  whispered  in  my 
ear — '  Daughter,  be  of  good  cheer,  thy  sins  which  are 
many,  are  all  forgiven  thee.'  Even  so,  my  dear 
Spencer.  I  have  experienced  such  raptures  in  a 
sick  room  ;  had  such  '  songs  in  the  night ; '  have  had 
my  wishes,  feelings,  views,  all  so  changed,  as  to  make 
me  a  wonder  to  myself.  I  have  had  a  sweet  interview 
with  our  dear  pastor.  He  gave  me  the  most  positive 
and  consoling  assurances  that  I  was  in  the  safe  path — 
only  persevere,  and  watch,  and  pray.  I  knew  this 
would  so  joy  your  heart,  that  I  could  not  a  moment 
longer  keep  you  ignorant." 

The  remainder  of  her  letter  is  devoted  to  commending 
to  her  brother's  care  the  orphan  children  of  Catharine 
Norvell.  Her  own  illness,  everything  in  short  relating 
to  herself,  was  forgotten  in  the  unselfish  devotion  of  her 
heart  to  all  that  remained  of  the  sister  she  had  loved  so 
well,  and  whose  last  days  she  had  watched  and  tended 
so  fondly. 

She  never  saw  her  brother  Spencer  again.  The  news 
of  her  death  came  to  him  at  Washington,  from  which 
place  he  writes,  May  23d,  1823— "  Dearly-beloved 
mother  and  sisters,  it  has  pleased  the  Great  Disposer  of 
human  events,  to  remove  from  us  our  dear  Eliza ;  but 
though  the  dispensation  was  indeed  a  most  trying  one, 


LIFE   OF   SPENCER   nOUGHTON   CONE.  195 

and  the  ties  of  nature  and  strong  affection  cannot  be 
broken  asunder  without  the  sharpest  pain,  yet  the  cir- 
cumstances of  her  death  are  calculated  to  make  us 
rejoice  in  the  midst  of  our  sorrow.  From  the  tenor  of  her 
last  most  precious  letter  to  me,  and  from  the  testimony 
of  Dr.  Staughton,  I  feel  confident;  that  she  has  gone  to 
that  heavenly  Canaan  where  the  wicked  cease  from 
troubling  and  the  weary  are  at  rest !  That  blessed  coun- 
try where  there  is  neither  sin  nor  sorrow ;  where  the 
Lamb  that  was  slain  leads  His  children  to  fountains  of 
living  waters  and  where  God,  I  doubt  not,  hath  wiped 
away  all  tears  from  her  eyes.  Our  loss  is  her  unspeakable 
gain.  Why  then  should  we  repine  or  sorrow  as  those 
who  have  no  hope  ?  Hath  not  the  Lord  done  all  things  well, 
and  instead  of  murmuring  shall  we  not  bless  His  holy 
name,  because  He  has  taken  her  feet  out  of  the  miry  clay 
and  horrible  pit,  and  then  after  a  few  days'  bodily  suffer- 
ing, removed  her  to  the  church  triumphant  in  glory  ? 
Oh,  what  a  soul-cheering  enrapturing  thought !  She  is 
now  with  Jesus.  She  contemplates  His  glory  and  gazes 
upon  the  God-man  Mediator  with  intense  delight,  with- 
out a  veil  between  !  and,  oh,  what  a  meeting  between 
our  sainted  sisters  !  "Who  can  tell  the  joy  they  felt  when 
joining  heart  and  hand  around  the  throne,  to  sing  the 
praises  of  Him  who  loved  them,  and  gave  Himself  for 
them.  My  dear  mother,  I  am  sure  you  must  rejoice, 
especially  when  realizing  the  shortness  of  human  life, 
and  looking,  forward  to  that  blissful  moment  when  we 
hope  to  join  the  choir  above.  May  this  providence  have 
a  tendency  to  wean  us  from  the  world,  and  strengthen 
us  to  pursue  the  path  of  holiness.  My  dear  sisters,  may 
God  Almighty  bless  the  event  to  you  both.  Oh,  may 
He  enable  you  both  to  lay  aside  every  weight,  and  the 
sin  which  doth  so  easily  beset  you,  that  you  may  run 


196  LIFE   OF    SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

with  patience  the  Christian  race,  and  so  run  as  to 
obtain." 

It  was  whilst  his  heart  was  yet  torn  and  bleeding 
with  domestic  sorrows,  that  Providence  calk-d  him  to 
occupy  a  wider  stage  of  action,  and  exert  his  talents  in 
a  held  of  Christian  effort,  the  boundaries  of  which  were 
ever  afterward  daily  extending  themselves,  taking  in 
ultimately  the  whole  range  of  denominational  effort  in 
the  Bible  and  Mission  cause.  He  felt  that  he  was  called 
of  God  to  preach  and  labor  in  the  city  of  New  York. 

"  When  he  left  Alexandria,  the  church  numbered  170 
white  members,  and  150  colored,  most  of  whom  were 
brought  to  a  knowledge  of  the  truth  through  his  instru- 
mentality." So  writes  Daniel  Cawood,  adding,  that  at 
the  date  of  his  communication,  February  17th,  1856,  he 
is  the  sole  surviving  male  member  of  that  small  but 
united  band  of  Baptists,  which,  at  Mr.  Cone's  coming 
amongst  them,  numbered  some  twelve  or  fourteen 
souls, 


LIFE  OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTOH   COKE.  197 


CHAPTER  XI. 

LEAVING     VIRGINIA 


The  impression  produced  by  his  preaching  during  his 
brief  visits  ,0  New  York,  end  the  personal" tnowlfdge 
Possessed  by  many  of  his  faithfolness  and  success  in  the 
pastoral  charge  of  the  cliurch  in  Alexandria,  filled  them 
with  a  des.re  to    „d„ce  him,  if  p08s!bIe>  'to  e9tab  J 

m  de  a^rna"ent  y  D  the  f°rmer  "^  Efforts  were 
made  at  he  same  time  to  draw  him  to  other  cities. 
Dr.  Stanghton  wished  him  to  be  in  Philadelphia,  and 
the  church  in  Baltimore  anxiously  desired  him  there- 
indeed,  during  his  whole  life,  they  would  never  give  up" 
the  idea  of  settling  him  amongst  them  in  Baltimore,  and 

W,r  me?  Pe7mal  P,'efe,'ence  was  «°™™l  Mb 

uarv  S        v    "«  rtra,dS  *     °n  the  8*  of  Ca- 
nary, 1821,  he  writes,  "I  have  a  pressing  invitation  iust 

now  t„  tttt, .„  Balt.more  z  1  o  notss  2°:;v: 

feel  disposed  to  accept  it.     The  Lord,  I  hope   will  eve 
direct  me  where  to  go,  and  what  to  do.     I  desire  to 
be  entirely  at  His  disposal,  and  say,  in  all  the  Z! 
vicissitudes  of  life,  <  Father,  Thy  will  be  done. ' »      "    * 
After  Ins  second  visit  to  New  York,  a  number  of  the 
members  of  Oliver  street  resolved  to  overcome  his  dis- 
inchnar.on  to  leave  the  church  in  Alexandria.     They 
believed  that  an  opening  in  Providence  was  made  in 
Hew  York    for  just  such  a  man,  and  that  the  cause 
demanded  h,8  presence  there.     It  appeared   to  them 
contrary  to  the  designs   of  Providence,   and  the  bes" 
interests  of  the  Master's  Kingdom,  that  a  man  calculated 


198  LIFE   OF   SPENCER    HOUGHTON   CONE. 

to  exert  a  commandimg  influence  upon  the  denomi- 
nation should  be  restricted  to  the  narrow  bounds  of  a 
small  provincial  city.  On  every  side  he  was  pressed 
with  urgent  appeals  to  come  up  and  help  them.  From 
Philadelphia,  Dr.  Staughton  wrote,  "  This  will  be  hand- 
ed to  y ou  by  Brethren  Garfield  and  Trimmul  of  the  New 
Market  street  church  of  our  city.  I  will  only  observe, 
that  I  am  of  opinion  a  very  large  and  important 
interest  may  be  raised  in  that  vicinity,  and  I  have  no 
doubt,  you  would  find  your  labors  extensively  blessed. 
The  worthy  brethren,  whose  affection  and  zeal  I  delight 
in  reciprocating,  would  feel  as  happy  in  vour  compli- 
ance with  the  request  of  that  church  as  myself.  I  pray 
the  Lord  may  be  your  guide,  and  friend,  and  that  the 
cloud  of  His  presence  and  grace  may  direct  your  way. 
In  early  life  I  felt,  and  have  often  realized  since,  the 
experimental  lines  of  Newton 

"  Our  lot  in  future  years, 
Unable  to  foresee ; 
He  kindly  to  prevent  our  fears 
Says  '  leave  it  all  to  Me.'  " 

The  Rev.  James  McLaughlin  adds  his  solicitation  to 
that  of  the  Philadelphia  Brethren.  It  is  brief,  and  warm 
as  words  can  make  it.  "I  shall  rejoice  to  have  you 
near  me.  Come,  beloved  of  the  Lord,  and  of  our  hearts ; 
come,  and  the  Lord  come  with  you  !" 

The  churches  at  Wilmington,  Delaware  ;  at  Albany, 
New  York;  in  Baltimore;  Philadelphia;  the  Beriah 
church  in  the  city  of  New  York,  and  various  others,  as 
appears  from  the  dates  of  their  letters,  were  all  urging 
him  at  this  time  to  accept  their  calls,  and  pressing  upon 
him  his  duty  to  choose  a  wider  field.  At  the  same  time 
various  brethren  in  the  city  of  New  York,  amongst 
whom  were  William  Colgate,  Eliakitn  Raymond,  Garret 


LIFE    OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON    CONE.  199 

N.  Bleecker,  Charles  Postly,  Daniel  Hall  and  others, 
formed  the  plan  of  building  a  new  meeting-house  in 
a  central  position  in  the  city  for  him.  They  entered 
into  correspondence  with  him  as  early  as  1818,  and 
continued  uninterruptedly  to  importune  him  until  1823. 
Ground  was  secured,  and  money  pledged  to  carry  out 
the  plan,  which  appears  to  have  been  a  favorite  one 
with  its  projectors.  Providence  overruled  it,  but  their 
importunities,  and'the  crowd  of  reasons  they  brought  to 
bear  upon  his  mind,  had,  no  doubt,  a  great  influence 
upon  his  decision.  Indeed,  not  only  Baptists,  but  mem- 
bers of  other  denominations  in  those  cities,  joined  in  the 
solicitations  for  his  presence  amongst  them.  Thus 
Charles  Postly,  and  Charles  C.  Andrews,  writing  from 
New  York,  E"ov.  13th,  1818,  say,  "Many  of  different 
denominations  are  frequently  inquiring  of  us,  as  Bap- 
tists, '  Whether  you  are  not  coming  here  V  And  when 
an  expression  of  doubt  is  given  in  reply,  much  disap- 
pointment is  manifested  by  them.  We,  with  many 
others,  only  require  your  affirmative  answer  to  take  our 
letters  and  form  ourselves  into  a  Gospel  church,  and 
then  wait  your  much-desired  arrival  amongst  us.  Allow 
us,  dear  brother,  to  repeat,  that  the  propriety  of  your 
coming  to  this  city  seems  to  be  pointed  out  by  Provi- 
dence.'' 

The  most  active  and  prominent  men  in  the  churches 
of  ISTew  York  wrote  continually  in  the  same  strain  and 
spirit,  until  he  could  not  help  believing  that  the  finger 
of  the  Lord  was  in  it,  and  that  His  Providence  was 
pointing  out,  through  their  instrumentality,  the  path  of 
duty.  His  interest  in  the  Mission  cause,  and  the  pros- 
pect of  being  enabled  to  exert  a  larger  influence  in  its 
behalf,  had  great  weight  with  him.  Yery  early  in  his 
ministry  Dr.  Staughton,  at  that  time  corresponding 
secretary   of  the  board   of  Missions,   had  recognized 


200  LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

a  kindred  spirit,  and  invokes  his  assistance  to  aid  the 
Foreign  Missionary  Society.  Their  expenditures  had 
exceeded  their  receipts  more  than  five  thousand  dollars, 
a  great  sura  in  benevolent  enterprises,  thirty-five  years 
since,  and  from  the  tenor  of  his  letter,  Spencer  H.  Cone 
appears  to  have  been  amongst  the  first  pitched  upon  by 
the  doctor,  then  the  leader  in  all  such  efforts,  to  aid 
them  in  their  difficulties.  "  I  know  the  kindness  of  yonr 
heart,"  he  says,  "  and  yonr  readiness  to  advance  the 
best  interests  of  the  Mission  cause.  Permit  me  to 
request  of  yon  the  favor,  that  yon  will  immediately  call 
upon  the  treasurer,  and  our  good  Brother  Colgate,  who 
in  the  hour  of  exigence  has  always  shown  himself  a  man 
of  God.  I  write  unto  you,  my  brother,  as  believing  that 
like  the  youth  John  addressed,  '•  You  are  strong  and  the 
"Word  of  God  abideth  in  you.'  I  affectionately  beseech 
you  accomplish  all  you  can." 

Thus  every  interest  of  the  Master's  Kingdom  appeared 
to  demand,  with  an  imperious  voice,  that  he  should 
choose  the  most  central  and  public  point  for  his  labors  ; 
a  point  from  which  the  influences  of  missions,  and  every 
other  form  of  denominational  and  benevolent  effort 
might  radiate  to  the  remotest  quarters  of  the  globe. 

In  the  good  providence  of  God,  his  mind  was  ulti- 
mately led  to  fix  upon  Oliver  street.  He  had  been 
unceasingly  urged  to  accept  the  joint  charge  of  that 
church,  as  assistant  to  the  venerable  John  Williams. 
The  increasing  age  and  infirmities  of  Dr.  "Williams,  and 
his  long,  acceptable,  and  faithful  services,  as  an  orthodox, 
evangelical,  and  fearless  preacher  of  the  Gospel  among 
them,  inspired  his  best  friends  in  the  church  with  the 
desire  to  relieve  him,  in  a  measure,  from  his  pulpit 
labors,  and  render  the  last  years  of  a  well-spent  life  less 
trying  and  laborious.  Suc?l,  at  least,  was  the  shape  in 
which  it  was  presented  to  Mr.  Cone.     This  view  and 


LIFE    OF    SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE.  201 

purpose  were  urged  upon  Mr.  Cone  with  sc  much  force 
that  he  began  to  take  the  matter  into  serious  considera- 
tion. 

How  he  felt  upon  the  subject  of  leaving  his  church 
in  Alexandria,  and  the  motives  which  induced  the 
change,  appear  in  some  degree  from  a  letter  to  the 
Rev.  John  L.  Dagg,  then  residing  at  Upperville, 
Virginia.  He  never  perhaps  wrote  more  freely  to  any 
one  than  to  Mr.  Dagg.  They  loved  each  other  with  a 
manly  and  Christian  love — a  love  which  no  separation, 
or  time,  or  circumstance  affected.  For  the  opinion  of 
John  L.  Dagg,  a  great  and  good  man,  with  the  head  of 
a  scholar,  and  a  warm  affectionate  heart,  combined  with 
strong  old-fashioned  Baptist  notions  and  doctrines,  he 
entertained  a  profound  and  unvarying  respect.  They 
were  every  way  kindred  spirits,  and  poured  their  hearts 
out  to  each  other  ever  without  reserve.  We  do  not 
believe,  indeed,  that  any  two  men  ever  entertained  a 
truer  sentiment  of  friendship  for  each  other,  or  one  more 
unalloyed  by  selfishness,  than  they  did.  To  Mr.  Dagg, 
he  writes  in  the  winter  of  1823  :  "  I  have  some  thoughts 
of  leaving  the  shores  of  the  Potomac,  in  the  course  of  a 
few  months.  It  is  my  intention,  before  taking  up  the 
line  of  march,  to  spend  two  or  three  days  with  you — 
probably  in  April  next.  A  separation  from  my  present 
charge  will,  doubtless,  be  very  painful ;  but  duty  to 
God,  and  to  my  fellow-men,  demand  it.  I  have  endea- 
vored to  examine  the  subject,  in  all  its  bearings,  with 
an  eye  single  to  the  Master's  glory,  and  hope  that  my 
mind  has  been  brought  to  its  present  determination,  by 
the  light  of  His  Spirit.  In  leaving  the  Alexandria 
church,  the  most  obtrusive  and  perplexing  question  is — 
'  Who  shall  succeed  to  its  pastoral  care  ? '  How  would 
you  like  a  town  residence  ?  Are  you  in  your  right 
place  ?    The  harvest  is  great — the  laborers  are  few  ;  the 


202  LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOTGHTON    CONE. 

Lord  of  the  harvest  lias  thrust  you  into  His  vineyard ; 
are  you  giving  yourself  wholly  to  the  work  V 

He  was  contemplating  a  separation  from  those  who 
were  dearest  to  him ;  from  his  children  in  the  Gospel, 
and  his  eyes  turned  instinctively  to  the  brother  of  his 
heart — to  one  he  loved  and  trusted  entirely — to  comfort 
them,  and  carry  on  the  good  work  in  their  midst.  He 
could  not  bear  to  leave  his  little  flock  to  a  strange 
shepherd. 

"  My  dear  brother,"  he  continues,  "  I  feel  that  the 
time  is  short — the  night  of  this  life,  in  which  we  see 
things,  at  best,  but  darkly,  is  far  spent.  Few  know 
how  to  preach  Christ  as  the  way,  the  truth,  and  the 
life  !  Souls  are  perishing  for  lack  of  knowledge.  The 
day  of  judgment,  and  of  glory,  are  at  hand,  when 
every  subject  shall  be  seen  in  its  true  light;  and  then, 
when  the  false  glare  which  has  recommended  some 
objects  to  our  notice  here  on  earth  shall  be  taken  away, 
we  shall  know  better  than  we  now  do,  that  '  he  who 
winneth  souls  is  wise.'  May  the  God  of  Jacob  bless 
you  and  yours,  and  enable  you  to  preach  the  Gospel  of 
His  Grace,  faithfully  and  successfully  to  the  end.  May 
you  walk  in  the  light  of  His  countenance  all  the  day 
long  ;  for,  indeed,  this  is  a  poor  world  to  live  in,  without 
the  soul-cheering  presence  of  our  dear  Lord  Jesus  !" 

In  this  state  of  mind,  his  brethren  of  the  Oliver  street 
church  continued  to  ply  him  with  letter  upon  letter. 
The  correspondence  displays,  in  an  interesting  and 
striking  manner,  the  careful  delicacy  with  which  he 
proceeded,  and  the  dread  he  had  of  wounding  the  feel- 
ings of  the  aged  pastor  whom  he  was  called  to  assist. 
But  the  official  correspondence  betwixt  the  committee, 
and  their  desired  pastor  will  speak  for  itself.  It  requires 
no  comment : 


LIFE   OF    SPENCER   HOLGHTON    CONE.  203 

"  New  York  Jan.  29th,  1823. 
"Elder  Spencer  H.  Cone. 

"  Dear  Brother  :— It  is  with  no  ordinary  sensation  of 
pleasure,  that  we  now  address  yon  in  the  name,  and  on 
behalf,  of  the  Baptist  church  of  Christ,  meeting  for 
divine  worship  in  Oliver  street  in  this  city,  having  been 
appointed  a  committee  for  the  purpose,  and  with  instruc- 
tions to  communicate  to  you  the  result  of  our  delibera- 
tions on  that  subject  so  interesting  to  you  and  to  us.  We 
refer  to  the  subject  which  you  know  was  under  consider- 
ation during  your  visit  to  New  York.  After  due  delib- 
eration on  the  part  of  the  deacons,  trustees,  and  some 
other  brethren  united  with  them,  it  was,  with^  the 
knowledge  and  consent  of  our  beloved  pastor,  submitted 
to  the  church.  Previous  to  entering  upon  the  discus- 
sion of  the  subject,  a  special  meeting  for  prayer  was 
appointed  to  be  held,  to  ask  wisdom  and  seek  direction 
from  the  Great  Master  of  assemblies  in  an  affair  so 
intimately  connected  with  the  peace  and  prosperity  of 
our  Zion.  On  the  appointed  evening,  the  church  met 
with  special  reference  to  the  proposition  that  had  been 
submitted  to  them,  when,  after  a  free  conversation  on 
the  subject,  the  following  resolution  was  made  and 
seconded  : 

"Besolved,  That  elder  Spencer  H.  Cone  of  Alexandria, 
be  invited  to  come  and  assist  Brother  Williams  our 
pastor,  in  the  discharge  of  his  pastoral  duty  for  one 
year. 

"  The  question  was  taken  by  ballot,  and  there  appeared 
one  hundred  and  eleven  (111)  ayes,  and  twenty  (20) 
nays.  In  discussing  the  subject,  there  was  made  the  fullest 
and  strongest  expression  of  love  and  attachment  to  our 
present  excellent  minister,  and  also  an  tmanimous  expres- 
sion of  esteem  and  regard  for  the  brother  it  was  proposed 


204  LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CCNE. 

to  unite  with  him.  We  believe  the  sole  ground  of  objec- 
tion, to  be  a  fear  that  Brother  Williams  might  in  some 
way  be  injured.  This  fear  originates,  we  are  persuaded, 
in  personal  attachment  to  him. 

"Thus,  clear  brother,  we  have  endeavored  to  give 
you,  in  a  few  words,  a  history  of  our  proceedings  in  this 
business,  which  we  submit  for  your  consideration,  ear- 
nestly praying  that  the  Lord  may  direct  you  to  such  a 
decision,  as  shall  result  in  His  glory,  and  the  advance- 
ment of  His  kingdom  in  the  world. 

Thomas  Purser. 

E.  Raymond. 

William  Colgate." 

"Alexandria,  February  4th,  1823. 

"Beloved  Brethren  in  Christ:  Tour  important  and 
deeply  interesting  epistle  of  January  29th  was  received  in 
due  season,  and  as  the  subject  upon  which  it  treats  has 
been  made  familiar  to  my  mind  by  frequent  meditation 
and  prayer,  I  feel  prepared  to  meet  it  with  an  imme- 
diate answer.  One  feature  obtrudes  itself  primarily  into 
notice — 20  nays!  Are  they  known?  are  they  persevering 
and  obstinate  in  disposition  ?  Will  they  oppose  my  min- 
istry, and  convert  mole-hills  into  mountains  continually  ? 
or  are  they  to  be  fairly  won  by  kindness  and  brotherly 
affection  ?  Give  me,  I  beg  of  you,  such  information  upon 
this  point  as  will  lead  me  fully  into  its  merits  ;  for 
whatever  my  judgment  may  determine,  this  point  is,  of 
all  others,  most  perplexing  to  my  feelings.  The  Great 
Head  of  the  church,  I  humbly  hope  and  trust,  has 
brought  me  to  that  state  of  feeling,  and  to  that  decision 
of  judgment,  which  dictates  the  following  remarks  : 

"  Frequent  meditation  and  prayer,  and  watching  of  the 
finger  of  divine  Providence,  resulted  in  the  conclusion 


LIFE    OF    SPENCER   HOUGHTON    CONE.  205 

that  it  was  my  duty  to  leave  Alexandria.  Not 
knowing  where  my  dear  Master  would  have  me  go, 
I  visited  two  or  three  neighboring  cities  hoping  that  He 
would  open  a  door,  and  say  to  His  poor  disciple,  "  This 
is  the  way — walk  in  it !"  The  door  seemed  to  open  in 
New  York,  and  I  felt  constrained  to  cry — '  Here  am  I, 
Lord — send  me.'  God  grant  that  my  impressions  may 
never  prove  to  have  been  the  suggestions  of  the  adver- 
sary. Of  all  the  plans  submitted  to  my  consideration, 
that  from  the  Oliver  street  church  has  the  decided  pre- 
ference, and  your  letter  contains  but  one  unpleasant 
feature,  and  that  feature  recpuires  close  inspection — 
<  Twenty  JSTays !  '" 

"New  York,  February  Uth,  1823. 

"Deae  Brother  Cone  :  Tour  esteemed  favor  of  the 
4th  inst.  came  to  hand  by  due  course  of  mail,  and  would 
have  received  a  much  earlier  reply,  had  not  two  of  the 
committee  been  absent  from  town.  Your  impressions 
that  the  'linger  of  divine  Providence'  points  to  this 
city  as  the  place  of  your  future  residence,  are  not  pecu- 
liar to  yourself;  on  the  contrary  may  we  not  say  that 
the  Macedonian  cry,  '  Come  ove:  and  help  us' — was 
heard  from  almost  every  individual  of  our  denomination. 
But  as  to  the  precise  spot  where  it  would  be  most  desi- 
rable for  you  to  fix  your  stand,  it  was  not  to  be  expected 
there  would  be  so  unanimous  a  voice. 

"  We  will  answer  your  questions,  as  far  as  we  are  able, 
with  the  frankness  with  which  they  are  submitted. 
'  Twenty  nays.  Who  are  they  V  they  are  members  of 
a  Baptist  church,  not  all  personally  known,  as  the  ques- 
tion was  taken  by  ballot;  but  we  believe  all  good 
brethren,  on  whose  heart  the  Gospel  fairly  preached 
will  tell,  and  who  we  hesitate  not  to  believe,  would  be 
1  fairly  won  by  kindness  and  brotherly  affection.'      We 


206        LIFE  OF  SPENCER  HOUGHTON  CONE. 

cannot  believe  for  a  moment  that  they  would  '  oppose 
your  ministry,'  nor  do  we  recollect  that,  while  the  ques- 
tion was  before  the  church,  there  was  a  single  observa- 
tion made  directly  in  opposition.  On  this  point  we 
think  that  we  have  said  enough  to  quiet  your  apprehen- 
sions, especially  as  we  have  none.  Brother  William's 
invariable  reply  to  every  inquirer  has  been — •'  If  the 
church  thinks  proper  to  call  him  I  have  no  objection — 
I  see  no  objection.'  May  you  still  enjoy,  &c,  &c. 
"  On  behalf  of  the  church. 

Thomas  Purser. 

E.  Raymond. 

William  Colgate." 


"Alexandria,  February  19tk,  1823. 

"  Very  Dear  Brethren  :  Tour  letter  of  the  14th 
instant  was  received  yesterday,  and  has  had  a  tendency 
to  relieve  my  mind  materially  from  the  embarrassments 
under  which  it  labored.  That  there  should  be  a  diver- 
sity of  sentiment  among  the  Oliver  street  brethren, 
upon  the  subject  of  my  settlement  in  New  York,  is  not 
surprising ;  it  was  distinctly  anticipated.  But  before  I 
could  give  you  a  decisive  and  categorical  reply  to  the 
propositions  contained  in  your  favor  of  January  29th,  it 
was  necessary  for  me  to  know  whether  that  diversity 
assumed  such  an  aspect  as  threatened,  seriously,  to 
interfere  with  my  usefulness  and  comfort.  It  is  con- 
ceded to  be  a  matter  of  moment  that  you  should  '  have 
no  apprehensions  upon  this  point,'  but  it  will  also,  per- 
haps, be  admitted,  that  satisfaction  to  the  preacher's 
mind  is  a  boon  worth  seeking  after.  The  20  nays,  how- 
ever, are  disposed  of,  and  the  Lord,  I  trust,  will  enable 
us  to  see  '  eye  to  eye,'  should  He  ultimately  call  me 


LIFE   OF   SPENCER    HOUGHTON   CONE.  207 

to  labor  in  your  city.  You  think  the  question  in  rela- 
tion to  times  of  preaching  'premature.'  Experience 
will  demonstrate  the  sobriety  of  my  judgment  in  this 
particular.  It  is  a  general  principle  that  ingenuous 
preliminary  explanation  obviates  many  difficulties,  and 
prevents  many  heart-burnings  in  our  intercourse  with 
our  fellow-men.  But  if  the  whole  business  be  submitted 
by  the  church,  to  brother  Williams  and  myself,  and  if  he 
be  willing  to  share  the  responsibility  of  all  pulpit 
arrangements  with  me,  I  am  willing  to  leave  it  there.  I 
wished  to  know  whether  brother  "Williams  has  recently 
expressed  himself  decisively  and  pointedly  upon  the 
subject.  In  the  frank  and  unreserved  conversation  had 
with  him  when  last  in  New  York,  my  opinion  was  that 
I  had  formed  a  correct  estimate  of  his  views  and  feel- 
ings upon  the  subject;  but  I  thought  it  wise  to  make  a 
direct  appeal  to  the  judgment  of  the  committee,  that 
from  their  more  extensive  information,  my  opinion 
might  either  be  invalidated  or  confirmed.  That  object 
is  obtained." 

The  "  call"  of  the  church  to  accept  the  pastoral  charge 
conjointly  with  their  old  pastor  was  the  answer  to  this 
letter,  and  the  reply  was  as  follows : — 

"Alexandria,  March  3c?,  1823. 

"  "Well- beloved  Brethren  :  Your  favor  of  the  2-ith 
ult.  is  before  me,  and  that  the  Lord  may  crown  the 
step  I  am  about  to  take  is  a  consummation  devoutly  to 
be  wished.  Enclosed  you  have  my  answer  to  the 
Oliver  street  church,  which  you  will  present  at  such 
time,  and  in  such  manner  as  you  may  think  best.  If 
the  Lord  will,  you  may  give  notice  for  me  to  preach  in 
your  place  the  third  Lord's  day  of  May.    It  would,  I  sup- 


208  LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

pose,  be  practicable  to  come  a  week  earlier,  but  having 
acted  for  years  upon  two  or  three  of  the  committees  of 
the  Board  of  Missions,  it  is  expected,  and  you  will  per- 
haps think  it  right,  that  I  should  be  present  at  the  meet- 
ing of  the  convention." 

"Alexandria,  March  3c?,  1823. 

"  To  the  church  of  Christ,  meeting  for  public  worship 
in  Oliver  street,  New  York.  Grace,  mercy,  and  peace 
from    God  the  Father,   and  from  our  Dear  Lord 

Jesus : 

"  Dearly-beloved  Brethren  :  Your  call  '  To  come 
and  assist  brother  Williams,  your  pastor,  in  the  dis- 
charge of  his  pastoral  duties,  for  one  year"  was  com- 
municated to  me  by  the  committee  appointed  for  that 
purpose.  After  mature  deliberation,  aided  by  the 
counsel  of  Christian  friends  ;  after  discussing  a  number 
of  important  preliminary  considerations  with  your  com- 
mittee ;  and  after  having  obtained,  as  I  do  hope  and 
trust,  the  mind  and  will  of  God  touching  this  matter,  I 
have  been  brought,  at  length,  to  the  solemn  and  determi- 
nate conclusion  that  duty  demands  my  compliance  with 
your  invitation.     I  will  come,  therefore,  if  the  Lord  will. 

"In  view  of  our  anticipated  relationship,  it  becomes 
me  to  specify  the  leading  tenets  of  that  ministry  which 
I  profess  to  have  received  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  It  is  then, 
brethren,  my  aim  and  prayer,  through  grace  divine, 
inviolably  to  maintain,  and  faithfully  and  affectionately 
to  preach,  the  following  doctrines — viz.  :  The  unity  of 
God  ;  the  existence  of  three  equal  persons  in  the  God- 
head:  the  just  condemnation  and  total  depravity  of  all 
mankind  by  the  fall  of  our  first  parents ;  eternal,  per- 
sonal, and  unconditional  election  ;  the  proper  and  essen- 
tial deity  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  the  indispensable 


LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE.  209 

necessity  of  His  atonement  and  its  special  relationship 
to  the  sins  of  His  people;  justification  by  the  imputed 
righteousness  of  Christ  alone ;  effectual  calling  by  the 
irresistible  operation  of  the  Holy  Spirit;  the  persever- 
ance of  the  saints;  believers'  baptism  by  immersion 
only  ;  the  Lord's  Supper  a  privilege  peculiar  to  baptized 
believers  regularly  received  into  the  fellowship  of  the 
church  ;  the  resurrection  of  the  body ;  the  genera] 
judgment;  the  everlasting  happiness  of  the  saints,  and 
the  interminable  misery  of  the  finally  impenitent ;  the 
obligation  of  every  intelligent  creature  to  love  God 
supremely,  to  believe  what  God  says,  and  to  practise 
what  God  commands;  and  the  divine  inspiration  of  the 
Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament,  as  the  infalli- 
ble rule  of  faith  and  practice. 

"  It  is  my  intention,  by  Divine  permission,  to  take  up 
my  abode  in  your  city  in  the  ensuing  month  of  May, 
and  if  it  shall  ultimately  please  the  Great  Head  of  the 
Church  to  locate  His  unworthy  servant  among  you,  may 
He  enable  us  to  look  to  Him  and  to  Him  only,  for  a 
blessing  upon  our  united  efforts  to  advance  His  declara- 
tive glory  in  the  earth. 

"With  sentiments  of  unfeigned  regard,  and  with 
ardent  prayers  for  your  future  prosperity,  1  remain 
your  brother  in  the  everlasting  bonds  of  the  Gospel. 

"  Spencer  H.  Cone." 

But-  it  is  from  the  unreserved  outpouring  of  his  feel- 
ings into  the  ear  of  that  mother,  upon  whose  wisdom 
and  affection  he  equally  relied,  that  we  are  let  in,  as  it 
were,  to  the  most  secret  places  of  his  soul,  and  are  made 
witnesses  of  all  the  varying  emotions  of  his  heart. 
There  is  no  attempt  at  care;  no  studied  phrasing;  no 
reserve  in  his  letters  to  her.  Indeed,  he  always  wrote  a 
letter,  no  matter  to  whom  or  upon  what  subject,  with 


210  LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

marvellous  rapidity.     Just  as  the  feeling  dictated  the 
words  flowed  on. 

While  yet  pressed  by  the  New  York  brethren,  and 
uncertain  whether  their  call  was  indeed  of  God,  he 
writes,  January  13th,  1823,  to  his  mother  :  "  The  recent 
journey  to  New  York  has  occasioned  much  agitation  of 
mind,  and  seems  big  with  most  momentous  results  with 
reference  to  all  my  future  life.  It  is  not  that  my  hope 
or  confidence  in  the  Lord  is  shaken.  No !  blessed  be 
His  Holy  name,  I  know  in  whom  I  have  believed,  and 
am  habitually  persuaded  that  He  is  able  to  keep  all  I 
have  committed  unto  Him,  till  the  day  of  Jesus  Christ. 
But  I  am  depressed  from  a  view  of  all  the  dangers,  and 
privations,  and  difficulties,  which  await  me  in  my  future 
ministerial  career.  To  part  with  the  people  of  my 
charge,  if  that  should  ultimately  appear  to  be  the  path 
of  duty,  cannot  be  anticipated  without  the  most  painful 
emotions.  To  bid  an  earthly  adieu  to  those  Christian 
friends  whose  fidelity  and  hearted  attachment  have  been 
proved  in  winter  as  well  as  in  summer,  and  to  shake 
hands  with  those  who  acknowledged  me  their  Father  in 
the  Gospel,  and  leave  them  too,  perhaps,  without  an 
under  shepherd  to  feed  them  with  knowledge  and 
understanding.  Alas!  while  contemplating  that  period, 
I  think  I  understand  the  words  of  Paul — '  What,  mean 
ye  to  weep  and  to  break  mine  heart  V  And  I  am  sure 
I  should  faint  at  the  prospect,  if  Grace  had  not  enabled 
me  to  say,  '  I  am  willing  not  only  to  be  bound,  but  to 
die  also  at  Jerusalem  for  the  Lord  Jesus.'  I  look  for 
no  heaven  on  earth,  but  to  preach  a  crucified  Redeemer 
to  poor,  perishing  sinners.  Stand  by  me  and  support 
me,  O  thou  Angel  of  the  Covenant  of  Grace.  Grant 
me  thy  presence!  restore  to  my  soul  the  joys  of  thy 
great  salvation  !  Uphold  me  by  thy  Free  Spirit ;  and 
then  can  I  look  forward  with  cheerfulness  and  holy  for- 


LIFE   OF   SPENCER  HOUGHTON   CONE.  211 

titudo  to  a  life  of  labor,  and  prayer,  and  trial,  and 
preaching,  and  daily  watching  for  the  recovery  of  pre- 
cious souls. 

"  We  have  commenced  a  new  year,  and  I  liave 
entered  the  eighth  of  my  ministry.  What  a  dull  scholar. 
I  chide  my  heart  for  the  little  progress  it  has  made  in 
the  knowledge  of  its  own  depravity  and  deceitfulness  ; 
or  of  the  excellency,  sweetness,  condescension  and 
preciousness  of  my  dear  Lord  Jesus !  Oh,  my  Saviour, 
work  in  me  both  to  will  and  to  do  of  Thine  own  good 
pleasure.  Fill  me  with  the  knowledge  of  Thyself,  and 
enable  me  continually  and  heartily  to  pray  to  Thee ! 
preach  for  Thee  !  and  rejoice  in  Thee  !  Amen  !  Even  so, 
my  sweet  Lord  Jesus  !  I  desire  this  day  to  be  rilled 
with  gratitude  to  God,  for  the  gift  of  His  Son — the  seal- 
ing of  His  Spirit,  and  the  consolations  of  His"  Word  ;  and 
I  desire,  moreover,  to  bless  His  holy  name  for  such  a 
mother !  May  my  God  bless  you  with  all  spiritual 
blessings  in  heavenly  things  in  Christ  Jesus  !  May  He 
reward  all  your  prayers  for  me  by  pouring  tenfold 
blessings  into  your  own  bosom  !  May  He  recompense 
you  abundantly,  even  in  this  life,  for  the  great  and 
persevering  affection  you  have  borne  to  so  unworthy  a 
son  !  May  your  years  be  added  unto,  like  Hezekiah's, 
for  the  sake  of  your  children ;  and  while  it  pleases  God 
to  continue  you  upon  His  footstool,  may  you  every  day 
be  more  and  more  spiritually  minded,  which  is  life  and 
peace,  until  at  last  the  Master's  voice  is  heard,  saying: 
'  Come  up  higher.'  There,  in  the  presence  of  our  God 
and  of  His  Christ,  may  we  meet  to  part  no  more ! 
Forget  not  to  pray  for  your  son." 

The  decision  was  made,  and  the  time  approached  for 
him  to  leave  Alexandria.  To  understand  how  deeply 
his  heart  was  moved  by  the  necessity,  the  character  of 
his  association  with  the  people  of  his  charge  there  must 


212  LIFE   OF.  SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

be  considered.  He  had  found  them  a  little  handful, 
but  the  little  one,  by  God's  blessing,  had  become  a 
thousand.  They  were  all  his  children  in  the  Gospel. 
He  had  drawn  them  in  from  all  classes,  and  all  denomi- 
nations. The  centre  of  their  thoughts,  and  chief  object 
of  their  affections,  he  bore  to  them  a  relation  more  than 
usually  tender.  A  small  place,  and  a  Southern  one, 
the  distractions,  and  dividing  influences  of  a  great  city 
did  not  interfere  between  the  hearts  of  pastor  and 
people,  and  the  warm,  impulsive  nature  of  the  people 
had  in  it  nothing  of  the  reticence  of  northern  habits  of 
mind.  They  hung  breathlessly  upon  his  words  when 
he  spoke ;  they  received  him  into  their  houses  as  one 
who  brings  a  blessing  with  him  ;  they  surrounded  him 
like  a  family  of  loving  children.  His  comfort,  and  hap- 
piness, and  his  family's,  were  all  the  while  uppermost  in 
their  thoughts.  Nothing  was  omitted,  nothing  thought 
troublesome,  which  could  be  done  for  their  good.  In 
the  strong  language  of  his  letter  to  his  mother,  their 
attachment  was  "hearted  ;"  and  all  his  intercourse  with 
them  was  warmed  with  the  sunshine  of  the  heart.  How 
could  he  leave  them?  He  must  go.  Not  from  choice, 
not  from  desire.  If  God  would  let  him,  their  country 
would  have  been  his  country,  and  where  they  lived  and 
died  he  would  have  lived  and  died.  But  his  Master 
put  the  necessity  upon  him.  He  must  break  the 
tenderest  ties  which  had  ever  bound  him  to  his  fellow- 
men.  ,  He  must  forsake  those  who  had  been  true  in  all 
seasons.  He  must  leave  those  who  had  received  him 
gladly  as  the  messenger  of  the  everlasting  Gospel ;  who 
had  taken  him  in  their  arms,  and  comforted  him,  and 
strengthened  him  for  his  work.  For  seven  happy  years 
that  work  of  faith  among  them  had  been  a  labor  of  love. 
God  had  blessed  him  abundantly  amongst  them.  In 
his  public  ministrations  every  effort  was  a  happy  season 


LIFE   OF   SPENCEK   HOUGHTON   CONE.  213 

of  reunion  with  all  his  dear  children,  and  in  private  life 
every  day  brought  a  pleasant  meeting  with  some 
member  of  that  united  and  confiding  family.  There  is 
nothing  strained,  therefore,  h.  the  idea  of  sacrifice  which 
pervades  his  letters.  To  him  the  change  was  the  worst 
of  sacrifices,  a  sacrifice  of  the  heart.  Sensitive  in  the 
highest  degree  to  affection,  and  the  charms  of  friend- 
ship, the  habit  of  a  daily  interchange  of  their  tokens 
with  a  society  which  might  be  said  to  have  been  created 
and  formed  entirely  by  himself,  was  one  which  could 
not  be  broken  without  a  rude  shock  to  the  tenderest 
qualities  of  his  nature.  Small  as  the  place  was,  com- 
parativly  speaking,  it  contained  at  that  time  a  good  deal 
of  wealth,  and  a  society  elegant  and  accomplished. 
Not  a  few  of  those,  attracted  at  first  by  the  fame  of  his 
eloquence  to  Baptist  meetings,  had  been  won  by  his 
arguments  to  Baptist  principles,  had  become  the  firm 
supporters  of  the  -cause,  and  exemplary  Christians. 
Everything,  therefore,  of  a  social  character  combined 
to  render  a  residence  in  the  little  city  delightful.  To 
go  away  from  it  to  New  York,  a  far  northern  city, 
amongst  a  people  of  different  habits  and  feelings,  and  a 
people  of  colder  temperament,  was  to  sacrifice  tried 
attachments  for  an  unknown  future.  But  the  idea  of 
duty  rose  above  every  other  consideration.  The  sign 
was  not  to  be  mistaken.  The  answer  to  prayer  had 
been  obtained.  The  finger  of  Providence  pointed 
northward.  God  put  it  upon  him  as  a  duty,  and  he 
was  ready  even  "  to  die  at  Jerusalem." 

And  so  he  told  them  they  must  part  as  pastor  and 
people  ;  perhaps  part  as  friends  who  should  see  each  other 
no  more  in  the  flesh.  No  one  attempted  to  change  his 
decision,  or  turn  him  back  from  the  path  he  had  deter- 
mined to  pursue.  They  knew  that  he  had  taken  counsel 
of  God,  and  that  flesh  and  blood  might  not  prevent  him 


214:  LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

from  pursuing  what  lie  believed  had  been  revealed  as 
the  path  of  duty.  Sorrowfully  and  with  many  tears, 
but  with  unabated  friendship  and  affection,  they  assisted 
him  in  his  preparations  for  removal. 

When  the  day  of  separation  came,  they  gathered 
around  him  as  the  disciples  at  Cesarea  did  around  Paul, 
a  weeping  company.  The  night  before,  they  came  by 
twos  and  threes  to  the  house;  well-nigh  the  whole 
church  was  there,  all  indeed  who  were  not  hindered  by 
sickness.  A  sadder  company,  or  a  scene  harder  to  be 
borne  by  him  around  whom  they  gathered  for  the  last 
time,  could  hardly  be.  And  early  on  the  morning  of 
the  next  clay,  a  number  of  them,  both  men  and  women, 
gathered  around  the  stage-coach,  weeping  and  bidding 
farewell ;  but  mingling  with  their  sorrow  earnest  aud 
united  prayer  for  his  usefulness,  his  happiness,  and  his 
success,  in  the  new  sphere  of  action  whither  he  was  called. 

So,  borne  upon  the  prayers  of  hundreds  of  faithful 
and  loving  hearts,  he  left  the  South,  and  came  away  to 
the  great  city  of  New  York. 


LIFE   OF   SPENCEK   nOUGIITON   CONE.  215 


CHAPTER    XII. 

NEW   YORK    1823. 

On  the  27  th  of  May,  1823,  he  announced  his  safe  arri- 
val in  New  York  to  his  mother.  "  TVe  arrived  in  safety 
in  this  great  city,  the  day  we  left  Philadelphia,  and 
after  ten  days'  bustle  and  turmoil,  and  visiting  and  Lay- 
ing, begin  to  feel  a  little  settled.  The  friends  have  been 
extremely  kind,  and  have  spared  no  exertion  to  make 
onr  situation  as  comfortable  as  the  nature  of  the  case 
would  admit.  It  is  not  possible  to  say  yet  that  we  feel 
at  home,  but  there  is  I  think,  for  myself  a  fair  prospect 
of  usefulness  and  comfort,  and  Sally  is  much  better  satis- 
fied than  she  anticipated.  "We  live  in  a  very  quiet  and 
retired  part  of  the  city." 

There  is  a  cheery  tone  about  this  announcement, 
which  shows  pleasantly  enough  how  he  was  disposed  to 
find  good  in  everything.  All  the  vexation,  fatigue,  and 
turmoil  of  a  change  of  residence,  are  absorbed  in  the 
one  idea  of  a  prospect  of  usefulness. 

The  committee  of  the  church  had  procured  him  a 
house  about  half  the  size  of  the  one  he  had  occupied  in 
Alexandria  ;  but  quite  comfortable.  The  location  was 
not  desirable  on  any  other  account,  except  as  being  at 
no  great  distance  from  the  meeting-house.  The  family, 
on  their  arrival  in  ]STew  York,  consisted  of  the  preacher 
and  his  wife,  two  children,  a  young  woman,  an  orphan, 
a  member  of  the  church  in  Alexandria,   who   being 


216  LIFE   OF   SPENCER    HOUGHTON   CONE. 

homeless  had  found  a  shelter  with  them,  and  a  colored 
girl  named  Mary.  The  latter  was  the  nurse  of  the 
youngest  child,  and  refusing  to  be  separated  from  him, 
had  accompanied  them  to  the  North.  Two  children, 
Maria  Alice,  and  William  Houghton,  had  been  buried 
by  them  in  Virginia;  Maria  in  1818  and  William  in 
1821.  Mrs.  Cone  exerted  herself  diligently  in  her  new 
sphere  to  make  everything  go  smoothly  ;  and  although 
placed  in  an  unusual  position,  and  forced  to  do  many 
things  she  had  never  been  accustomed  to,  succeeded  so 
well  that  her  husband  never  knew  how  much  effort  and 
devotion  it  cost  to  prevent  the  petty  annoyances  of  daily 
existence  coming  to  his  knowledge,  and  interfering  with 
the  grander  business  of  his  life. 

And  this  was  the  beautiful  and  controlling  trait  in 
her  character  as  a  wife.  Her  husband  wrote  upon 
her  tomb,  the  noble  epitaph,  "She  was  a  brave  and 
decided  Baptist."  Twinned  with  her  devotion  as  a 
wife,  was  her  sentiment  of  duty.  The  two  were 
never  sundered.  Her  husband's  God  was  her  God. 
The  faith  he  followed  was  her  faith.  It  was  his  to 
ride  forth,  clad  in  the  whole  armor  of  God,  to  do 
battle  for  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Christ  Jesus.  It  was  hers 
to  smooth  his  path,  and  encourage  him  to  the  strife.  So 
■Ok.-  kept  from  him  everything  that  might  worry  or  dis- 
tract his  mind,  and  had  a  ready  smile  and  cheery  word 
for  him  always.  Bound  up  and  absorbed  in  his  public 
work,  he  had  no  eyes  or  thought  for  mere  matters  of 
household  life.  In  fact  he  was  never  heard  to  find  fault 
with  anything  in  the  house  in  his  whole  life,  nor  ask 
why  one  thing  was  not  done  or  set  before  him,  instead 
of  another.  Simple  in  his  tastes  and  very  easy  to  please, 
it  was  only  necessary  to  make  him  happy  that  others 
should  seem  to  be  happy  around  him.  And  so  that  dear 
wife,  knowing  him,  as  woman's  love  only  can  know, 


LIFE    OF    SPENCEB    flOUGnTOX    CONE.  217 

Btndied  hourly  how  she  might  keep  all  things  at  home 
in  subservience  to  the  great  business  of  his  life,  the 
preaching  of  the  Gospel  and  the  advancement  of  the 
kingdom.  !N"o  sound  of  the  many-stringed  instrument 
of  daily  life,  whose  thousand  wires  have  an  echo  for 
every  vagrant  wind,  was  suffered  to  make  a  discord  near 
him.  If  it  refused  a  harmony,  it  was  silent — put  away 
out  of  sight  and  hearing.  Thus,  a  house,  or  what  was 
in  it  beyond  books  and  papers  and  happy  faces,  made 
no  part  of  his  thoughts.  The  routine  ran  on  with  the 
fidelity  of  a  nice  machinery.  Breakfast  was  always  on 
the  table  between  seven  and  half-past  seven  for  him; 
dinner  came,  as  punctual  as  the  hour,  to  one  o'clock  j 
and  tea  marked  half-past  six  with  equal  certainty.  ISTo 
matter  what  was  doing  or  happening,  the  routine  never 
varied.  At  nine  o'clock  when  at  home,  or  as  soon  as 
he  returned,  if  engaged  in  public  duties,  the  bell  was 
rung  and  all  the  household  came  together  in  the  study 
or  parlor  for  family  worship.  After  breakfast  in  the 
morning — the  same.  The  day  begun  and  closed  with 
prayer.  Either  himself,  or  some  member  of  the  family, 
read  a  chapter  from  the  Bible  aloud,  and  then,  all 
kneeling  down,  he  offered  up  a  prayer.  And  it  was 
there,  in  the  privacy  of  his  own  household,  that  the 
warmest,  and  most  eloquent  supplication  or  thanksgiving 
was  poured  out  by  him.  He  always  seemed  to  feel,  at 
those  times,  if  we  may  say  so,  nearer  to  God  than  at  any 
other,  and  approaching  Him  with  childlike  confidence, 
he  sought  direction,  support,  and  comfort  in  all  things, 
only  from  Him. 

Then  the  first  thing  to  be  done  out  doors  was  to  go  to 
market.  That  achieved,  his  part  of  household-life  was 
finished.  How  the  rest  came  about,  or  who  did  it,  he 
had  no  idea,  and  indeed  no  time  to  inquire  of. 

And  part  of  his  great  success  in  the  business  of  the 

10 


218  LIFE   OF    SIENOER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

Denomination,  as  well  as  the  happy  uniformity  of  his 
mental  action  in  public  speaking — a  large  part  in  fact — ■ 
was  unmistakably  owing  to  the  freedom  of  his  mind 
from  all  the  petty  cares  of  material  life.  lie  was  able 
to  devote  his  whole  time  and  his  whole  mind  to  great 
things,  great  thoughts,  unfettered  by  the  littleness  of 
domestic  politics.  "  He  has  the  Lord's  work  to  do,"  was 
the  idea  often  expressed  by  the  true  help-mate  God 
blessed  him  with :  "That  is  his  business  in  the  world; 
and  mine  is  to  see  that  he  is  taken  care  of  whilst  he  does 
it" — and  for  more  than  forty  years  he  was  watched  and 
tended,  so  that  he  never  knew  what  it  was  to  be  inter- 
rupted, or  distracted  from  his  work  by  the  ordinary 
cares  of  home  life. 

The  climate  of  the  North  proved  too  severe  for  the 
poor  colored  girl  who  had  accompanied  the  family  to 
New  York,  and  during  the  first  year  of  their  residence 
in  their  new  home,  she  was  attacked  with  disease  of  the 
lungs.  The  disease  refused  to  yield  to  medical  treat- 
ment, and  hasty  consumption  set  in.  In  addition  to  the 
cares  of  the  house,  the  sick  girl  had  to  be  nursed  by  the 
two  women  of  the  family,  and  if  she  had  been  child  or 
sister  she  could  not  have  been  more  tenderly  watched 
over.  On  the  24th  of  May,  1824,  the  pastor  writes  to 
his  mother,  "  Mary  still  lies  at  the  point  of  death,  and 
Sally  and  Nancy  having  employed  no  help  in  nursing  her, 
have  had  for  six  weeks  past  a  most  fatiguing  time.  The 
physician  entertains  no  hope  of  her  recovery.  She  is 
wasting  daily  away — no  gleam  of  hope  that  she  can  be 
restored  to  health  again  ;  and,  poor  creature,  she  is 
entirely  ignorant  of  her  awful  situation,  and  will  not  be 
convinced,  either  that  death  is  at  hand,  or  that  she  is 
unprepared  for  the  solemn  event.  She  appears  to  be 
entirely*  destitute  of  the  knowledge  of  Jesus,  whom  to 
know  is  life  eternal.     But  the  will  of  the  Lord  must  be 


LIFE    OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE.  219 

done.  She  seems  struck  with  death.  The  doctor  thinks 
she  will  not  survive  another  night.  Sally  is  worn  out 
nursing-,  and  sitting  up." 

The  fear  of  the  physician  was  prophetic.     She  died 
the  next  day.     But  the  messenger  of  death  was  waiting 
for  a  dearer  victim.    The  mother,  who  had  loved  him  so 
fondly,  and  who  had  been,  in  return,  little  short  of  idol- 
ized by  him,  was  drawing  near  the  close  of  a  well-spent 
Iife-     The  remote  cause  of  her  death  was  the  injuries 
received  during  a  journey  to  the  West.     In  1817,  Mrs. 
Alice  Cone  paid  a  visit  to  her  relatives  in  Maysville, 
Kentucky,    and    spent    the    summer   with    them.,    Pier 
mother,  and  her  two  brothers,  Aaron  and  Joab  Hough- 
ton, had  removed  to  Kentucky  at  her  father's  death,  and 
settled  there.    A  number  of  the  old  inhabitants  of  Hun- 
terdon County,  New  Jersey,  most  of  them  cousins  once 
or  twice  removed,  or  connections  by  marriage,  of  each 
other,  had  accompanied  them  ;  and  whilst  old  Hopewell 
and  Princeton  were  still  the  scenes  which  recalled  the 
memories  of  her  youth,  most  that  remained  of  the  old 
familiar  faces  were  to  be  seen  about  the  newer  settle- 
ments of  the  West,  and  chiefly  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Maysville.     To  the  care  of  one  of  these  relatives,  Amos 
Corwine,    her    son     Spencer's     letters     are    generally 
directed. 

After  spending  some  time  with  her  mother  and  broth- 
ers, Mrs.  Alice  Cone  set  out  on  her  return  to  Philadel- 
phia. The  old-fashioned  stage-coach  offered,  as  all 
know,  the  only  convenience  of  inland  travel  at  that  da  v. 
In  crossing  the  mountains,  a  day  or  so's  journey  from 
Maysville,  the  stage,  in  which  she  was,  overset,  and  she 
was  seriously  injured.  Indeed,  although  she  lived  seven 
years  after  it,  she  never  recovered  from  the  effects  of  the 
injuries  received,  and  they  proved  the  remote  cause  of 
her  death.     The   slow  transmission  of  news  from  the 


220  LIFE   OF   SPENCER    HOUGHTON   CONE. 

western  tovns  to  the  seaboard,  at  that  time,  left  her  son 
for  a  week  or  two  ignorant  of  the  accident.  But  the 
instant  word  came  to  him  that  his  mother  was  lying  at 
Maysville  ill  and  crashed,  he  took  his  horse  and  gig, 
and  drove  nearly  night  and  day  to  reach  her.  So  soon 
as  she  was  able  to  be  moved,  he  brought  her  home  in 
the  gig,  travelling  across  the  mountains  by  the  easiest 
stages,  and  very  slowly.  It  was  the  most  comfortable 
mode  of  land  carriage  known  then,  for  the  gig  was  one 
of  the  old-fashioned  ones,  hung  upon  C  springs,  and  as 
easy  as  a  carriage  could  be  made.  Mrs.  Alice  Cone's 
life  was  saved  ;  the  broken  bones  were  set,  and  the 
wounds  healed,  but  her  frame  and  constitution  had 
received  a  shock  ruder  than  it  was  able  to  support. 
After  that,  she  seldom  attempted  to  take  the  least  exer- 
cise, and  usually  laid,  supported  by  pillows,  on  a  settee. 
Her  daughters  gathered  around  her,  and  nursed  her 
there;  and  whilst  the  others  sewed,  or  attended  to 
necessary  affairs,  one  always  sat  and  read  aloud  to  her. 
Her  daughter  Amelia  kindly  furnishes  us  with  the 
following  additional  particulars. 

"It  was  in  June  or  August  of  1818,  I  am  not  sure 
which  now,  that  my  dear  mother  was  returning  from 
Lexington,  Kentucky.  She  had  gone  there  to  see  her  own 
mother,  and  had  spent  a  year  with  her  and  sister  Cath- 
arine. Brother  Spencer  lived  then  in  Alexandria.  Mrs. 
Willard,  a  lady  from  the  eastern  States,  was  also  on  a  visit 
to  Lexington,  where  she  had  accompanied  her  husband, 
who  was  in  very  ill  health,  for  the  sake  of  a  milder  cli- 
mate. Mr.  Willard  died  in  Lexington,  hewever,  and  my 
mother  and  Mrs.  Willard  left,  in  company,  to  return  to 
their  several  homes,  she  to  New  Haven,  Connecticut,  and 
my  mother  to  Philadelphia.  They  came,  in  the  course 
of  their  journey,  to  a  place  called  Sideling  Hill,  which  I 
believe  lies  not  more  than  twenty  miles  from  Bedford 


LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE.  221 

Springs.  They  were  in  an  old-fashioned  stage-coach. 
At  a  very  steep  part  of  the  hill,  the  stage  coach  was 
overset,  and  the  passengers  tumbled  with  it  down  a 
considerable  descent.  In  the  fall,  mother's  head  was 
dashed  against  the  upright  post,  at  one  side  of  the  coach- 
door,  with  great  violence.  The  fall,  and  the  dreadful 
weight  which  came  upon  her,  nearly  crushed  her  body, 
which  was  very  slight  and  weak,  for  she  had  already 
been  an  invalid  for  several  years.  In  addition  to  her 
bruises,  she  received  a  wound  quite  six  inches  long  upon 
her  forehead  and  head.  She  was  carried,  in  a  state  of 
insensibility,  into  the  nearest  house  which  could  be 
found.  It  was  a  wagoner's  hut,  a  kind  of  stopping-place 
and  tavern  for  teamsters.  There  were  but  two  rooms  in 
it ;  one  was  a  bar-room,  and  the  other  a  room 
used  for  sleeping,  eating,  cooking  and  all  sorts  of 
purposes.  Mrs.  Willard  remained  with  her,  and 
waited  upon  her,  and  nursed  her  night  and  day.  She  lay 
in  that  wretched,  gloomy  place  a  long  while.  For  nine 
days  her  head  continued  to  bleed  more  or  less,  so  that 
she  was  reduced  in  a  pitiable  manner.  There  was  no 
physician  within  eighteen  miles  of  the  place,  and  neither 
comfort  nor  convenience  to  be  had.  The  people  of  the 
house,  too,  let  them  stay  in  it  very  grudgingly  and  unwil- 
lingly— and  they  had  not  the  consolation  of  sjmipathy 
'-'and  attention  even  in  the  rudest  and  homeliest  way. 
Mrs.  AVillard  wrote  to  brother  Spencer  as  soon  as  she 
could  get  means  to  do  so,  and  with  much  difficulty  had 
the  letter  dispatched  to  Alexandria.  Brother  took  his 
horse  and  gig,  and  set  out  immediately  in  search  of  them. 
"  Mrs.  Willard  afterward  gave  us  an  account  of  the 
meeting  between  the  mother  and  her  son.  She  said  it 
was  the  most  touching  scene  she  ever  witnessed,  and 
that  she  never  could  forget  the  pathos  of  his  simple  words. 
'  My  mother !  my  mother  !' 


222  LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

"  After  a  while  they  got  mother  up,  and  pnt  her  in 
the  gig.  Mrs.  Willard  sat  beside  her,  and  held  her  arms 
around  her,  to  save  her  a  little  from  the  shocks  and  jolt- 
ing of  a  rough  road.  Brother  tied  his  large  silk-hand- 
kerchief across  in  front  of  them,  and  made  it  so  that  she 
could  hold  on  by  it,  or  lean  against  it  and  save  herself 
from  falling  forwards.  And  brother  walked  at  the 
horse's  head  and  led  him.  The  roads  were  rough  and 
muddy.  In  some  places  the  mud  was  so  deep  as  to  be 
almost  impassable,  and  the  horse  could  hardly  drag 
them  through  it.  When  they  could  find  a  house,  for 
the  country  was  very  thinly  settled  then,  and  the  houses 
scarce  and  far  apart,  they  stopped  and  got  what  they, 
could  to  eat  and  drink.  And  so  dear  brother  brought 
those  two  precious  women  to  Joseph's  house  in  Balti- 
more ;  walking  himself  at  the  horse's  head,  and  many 
times  through  mud  almost  kneed- eep,  all  the  way  from 
near  Bedford  Springs  in  Kentucky  to  the  city  of  Balti- 
more. 

"  My  dear  mother  was  attacked  awhile  after  with 
partial  paral}Tsis.  We  watched  her  slowly  sinking  with 
agonized  hearts.  Sister  Catharine  came  from  Lexing- 
ton to  see  her  before  she  died  ;  but  poor  Kitty  died  first 
herself.  Although  mother  was  frequently  attacked,  she 
would  rally  again  and  seem  partially  to  recover.  She 
articulated  with  difficulty,  but  she  never  lost  her  mind, 
which  was  a  great  joy  to  us. 

"  God  in  His  goodness  kept  her  with  us  thus  until  the 
year  1824.  She  was  always  sensible  and  reasonable. 
Martha  and  I  were  with  her  all  the  time  night  and  day. 
Once  1  remember  seeing  her  look  very  sad  and  disheart- 
ened, and  I  said  '  Dear  mother,  what  is  the  matter  V 

"  '  Oh,'  she  replied,  '  I  am  a  great  sinnei.' 

"'Why,  dear  mother,'  I  said,  'I  never  see  you 
sin.' 


LIFE    OF    SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE.  223 

"  '  Ah,'  she  said,  '  I  know — I  know  what  I  am.' 
"  Shortly  after  that  she  had  a  dreadfully  distressing 
night,  and  about  ten  o'olock  in  the  morning  of  the  third 
of  June,  she  said,  '  Lay  me  on  the  Led.'  She  had  been 
lying  on  the  sofa.  'Lay  me  on  the  bed,  and  take  the 
pillows  away.  Give  me  some  drink.'  We  hastened  to 
obey.     Sister  said,  'She  is  dying.' 

"  She  heard  lis  cry.  I  was  on  one  side  of  the  bed, 
and  Martha  at  the  other.  She  heard  our  sobs;  she 
turned  her  head,  first  to  one  side,  and  then  to  the  other, 
and  said,  smiling  sweetly — '  What,  crying  for  me,  chil- 
dren !  '  It  was  as  if  she  had  said,  '  What,  crying  for 
my  happy  release!' 

"  I  remembered  how  sad  she  had  been,  and  went  to 
the  foot  of  the  bed  and  looked  in  her  face,  and  said, 
'  Mother  are  you  happy  ?' 

"  She  understood  me.  Her  mind  was  clear  even  in 
death.  She  said,  'Yes!  yes  !'  Then  she  gazed  upwards, 
and  seemed  to  be  looking  exultingly  away  into  eternity; 
gasped  three  times,  but  made  no  struggle,  and  her 
blessed  spirit  was  with  her  God." 

And  so,  on  the  3rd  of  June,  1824,  she  passed  peace- 
fully away  to  the  better  land,  where  there  are  neither 
wounded  bodies,  nor  wounded  spirits.  Out  of  a  family 
of  four  daughters  and  two  sons,  she  had  lived  to  see  all 
but  one  daughter  converted  men  and  women,  and  mem- 
bers of  the  visible  Church  of  Christ.  She  was  a 
preacher,  and  a  daily  example  of  righteousness  to  her 
family  ;  and  see  how  God  blessed  her  preaching  and  her 
life.  He  rewarded  her  even  in  this  world,  for  He  made 
her   household,   a    household  of  faith.     And  who   can 

paint, 

'  Unless  to  mortal  it  were  given 
To  dip  the  brush  in  <lves  of  Heaven," 

her  happiness  in  that  other  world,  when  standing  with 


221  LIFE   OF   SPENCEK   HOUGHTON    CONE. 

them,  in  the  presence  of  her  Saviour,  she  could  say, 
"Behold,  Lord,  I,  aud  the  children  Thou  hast  given 
me  \" 

On  the  5th  of  June,  1824,  her  Spencer  writes,  "  Dear 
Sisters:  Amelia's  letter  was  received  last  evening;  so 
that  I  could  not  possibly  reach  Philadelphia  until  too 
late,  by  a  day,  to  accompany  you  in  the  sad  procession. 
The  blow  so  long  anticipated  has  fallen,  and  in  the  holy 
and  unerring  providence  of  God,  we  are  deprived  of  the 
dearest — the  best  of  mothers.  It  is  true,  that  years  ago 
we  did  not  expect  the  Lord  would  have  lent  her  to  us 
until  this  period,  and  yet,  even  now,  when  he  has  taken 
her  to  himself,  it  is  hard  to  say,  '  Thy  will  be  done.' 
But  oh,  what  cause  have  we  to  bless  the  high  and  lofty 
One,  for  His  kind  dealings  towards  our  beloved  mother  ! 
So  much  comfort  of  mind,  and  so  little  agony  of  body  in 
her  last  hours ;  and  then  what  consolation  is  afforded 
us.  We  sorrow  not  as  those  who  have  no  hope.  Our 
mother  is  gone  to  the  precious  Jesus.  She  has  joined 
the  ransomed  throng,  to  celebrate  His  praises  in  the 
world  of  glory,  and  it  is  not  wrong,  I  hope,  to  believe 
that  our  dear  sisters  welcomed  their  mother  to  that 
happy  world,  where  sin  and  sorrow  can  never  come. 
Should  we  not  then,  instead  of  mourning,  or  repining, 
or  wishing  it  otherwise,  bless  the  Lord,  that  after  all  the 
pains,  and  trials,  and  sore  afflictions,  which  she  had  to 
pass  through  on  earth, 

He  sweetly  kissed  her  soul  away, 
And  laid  her  flesh  to  rest. 

"We  have  now  one  tie  less  to  earth,  and  it  has  been  a 
mercy,  and  a  great  condescension  to  our  weakness,  that 
the  Master  has  been  cutting  that  tie  for  years.  May  the 
orphans'  Father  be  with  you  and  comfort  you  !  Our 
mother  is  a  glorified  spirit  in  Heaven — released  from 


LITE   OF   SrENCER   HOEGHTON   CONE.  225 

her  prison  of  clay,  and  escaped  from  the  body  of  sin, 
and  of  death,  under  which  for  man}7  long  years  she 
groaned  being  burdened.  We  ought  not  to  weep  for 
her  immoderately,  or  mourn  after  her,  complainii.g  of 
her  loss.  Had  our  dear  mother,  after  years  of  parental 
tenderness  and  patience,  and  undeviating  fidelity 
towards  her  children,  been  snatched  away  without  a 
hope  in  Christ,  oh,  how  should  we  have  wept !  Our 
mourning  might  have  been  like  the  grief  of  David,  at 
the  untimely  death  of  Absalom,  but  since  the  Lord  has 
given  us  abundant  proof  that  he  has  taken  her  to  that 
happy  country,  where  sin,  and  pain,  and  sorrow,  never 
come,  oh,  let  us  say,  '  The  Lord  gave,  and  the  Lord 
hath  taken  away  !  blessed  be  the  name  of  the  Lord  !'  " 

The  privilege  of  smoothing  her  pillow  in  her  sickness; 
of  hearing  her  last  words ;  of  catching  the  last  look  of  love, 
that  deep,  unalterable  love,  which  had  filled  her  heart 
from  the  hour  she  first  strained  him  to  her  bosom ;  even 
the  mournful  satisfaction  of  following  her  body  of  clay  to 
its  long  home,  were  denied  him.  The  multiplied  engage- 
ments and  anxieties  of  his  new  charge ;  sickness  in  his 
family,  restricted  means,  and  the  difficulties  of  commun- 
ication between  New  York  and  Philadelphia,  kept  him 
from  her.  No  apprehension  of  immediate  danger,  either, 
had  been  entertained.  Her  sickness  had  weakened  her  so 
gradually,  the  fire  had  burned  out  so  slowly,  that  those 
who  were  with  her  all  the  day  long,  had  scarcely  per- 
ceived a  change  for  the  worse.  An  invalid  for  years, 
the  fear  of  her  death  had  long  given  place  to  the  anxi- 
ety of  her  children,  to  console,  and  amuse  the  tedious 
hours  of  inaction,  and  confinement  to  a  sick-room. 
But  the  Good  Physician  came  at  last,  silently,  and 
unexpectedly,  with  the  sweet  opiate  of  death,  and 
as  she  fell  asleep,  took  her  away  from  the  sick-room, 
where  Martha  and  Amelia  nursed  her,  and  carried  her 

10* 


226  LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

to  the  Heavenly  gardens,  where  Catharine  and  Eliza, 
her  happier  children,  were  waiting  to  receive  her.  So 
died  Alice  Cone,  an  enlightened  and  unwavering  Bap- 
tist; a  worthy  mother  of  a  worthy  son. 

Wonderfully,  hut  in  a  simple  and  natural  way,  God 
through  her  wrought  in  making  him  what  he  was. 
Sorrows  and  trials,  day  by  day  and  year  by  year,  assayed 
him,  until  a  character  originally  strong  and  good  was 
refined  in  the  furnace  of  affliction,  and  made  as  pure  as 
sinful  man  may  be  this  side  the  grave.  He  had  been 
always  giving,  and  so  grew  to  wonder  at  and  pity  sordid 
souls  who  were  strangers  to  the  blessed  feeling  that 
touches  the  soul  when  generous  emotions  move  it. 

In  the  midst  of  all  these  domestic  trials,  God  consoled 
him  by  permitting  him  to  see  that  his  work  was  prosper- 
ing in  his  hands.  His  preaching  had  great  success. 
Crowds  flocked  to  Oliver  street  meeting-house,  and  from 
a  place  known,  comparatively  speaking,  only  to  its 
members  and  co-religionists  in  the  city,  it  became  one 
of  the  points  of  public  attraction  for  citizens  and 
strangers  of  all  denominations.  Yet  he  made  no  effort ; 
no  display.  No  public  notice  was  given  of  the  exercises 
except  from  his  own  pulpit.  He  conceded  nothing  to 
the  passion  or  prejudice  of  the  day.  His  preaching  was 
plain,  experimental,  evangelical.  The  more  the  crowd 
of  strangers  flocked  to  hear  him,  the  plainer  he  grew, 
divesting  his  style  of  everything  like  rhetorical  ornament 
and  bending  all  the  powers  of  his  mind  to  tell  them  in 
the  plainest  English,  the  story  of  the  Cross.  And  that 
was  the  wonderful  charm.  So  when  the  young  pastor, 
standing,  for  the  first  years  of  his  labors,  in  the  great 
city  of  New  York,  in  the  midst  of  a  changing  and 
frivolous  crowd  of  seekers  after  pleasure,  money, 
novelty,  excitement — anything  that  promised  variety 
and  new  sensations — saw  them  throng  around  his  pulpit 


LIFE    OF    SPENCER    HOUGHTON    CONE.  227 

— like  Paul  among  the  Athenians,  he  preached,  the 
Saviour  of  sinners.  His  zeal  and  enthusiasm  found  vent 
in  no  ornate  diction;  in  no  elaborate  sentences;  in  no 
nice  autopsy  of  motive;  in  no  magnificence  of  illustration, 
display  of  erudition,  or  trick  of  rhetoric  ;  but  it  beamed 
in  his  eyes;  it  gushed  and  quivered  in  his  voice;  it 
echoed  in  terror  the  thunderings  of  Sinai ;  it  hung  on 
every  tender  solicitation ;  it  formed  for  itself  every 
graceful  or  majestic  gesture;  it  burned  and  glittered 
along  every  word  that  dropped  like  the  molten  gold — 
it  was  true  to  nature,  to  man,  to  God  !  It  was  the 
glorious  Gospel  of  the  blessed  God,  preached  with  that 
simplicity  and  singleness  of  heart,  which  is  an  inspira- 
tion of  His  Spirit,  and  it  had  free  course  and  was 
glorified. 

The  glowing  pen  and  warmer  heart  of  Rev.  Richard 
Fuller  of  Baltimore,  one  of  the  most  eloquent  and 
evangelical  preachers  in  America,  has  recorded  for  us 
how  strongly  these  characteristics  both  of  his  manner 
and  his  matter  impressed  themselves  upon  the  minds 
and  hearts  of  those  who  heard  him.  "Writing  to  us, 
January  22d,  1856,  he  says,  "Nothing  would  be  easier 
than  to  compose  an  eulogium  on  one  who  was,  for  so 
many  years,  '  a  burning  and  a  shining  light ;'  but  all 
who  knew  him  must  feel  that  studied  encomiums,  and 
panegyrics,  ought  to  have  no  place  in  a  memoir  of  his 
character  and  life.  He  never  sought  praise  from  men. 
His  entire  conduct  shows  that,  at  the  Cross  of  Jesus, 
and  on  the  altar  of  stern  duty,  he  immolated  everything 
like  a  pas&ion  for  distinction.  Pre-eminence  he  did 
have;  but  I  have  known  few  men  so  pure  from  the 
spirit  of  Diotrephes. 

"  When  some  one  spoke  of  Garrick  as  a  vain  man, 
Dr.  Johnson  said — '  No,  sir,  Garrick  is  not  a  vain  man. 
If  I  were  as  popular  as  Garrick  is,  I  would,  whenever  I" 


228  LIFE    OF    SPENCER   HOUGHTON    CONE. 

walk  out,  hire  half  a  dozen  stout  fellows  to  go  before 
me,  with  long  poles,  and  knock  down  everybody  in  the 
way.     No,  sir,  Garrick  is  not  a  vain  man.' 

"Few  ministers  of  the  Gospel  ever  enjoyed  such 
popularity  as  your  father's.  It  has  been  said  that  he 
was  ambitious,  but  who  among  those  who  bring  this 
charge  could  have  borne  such  faculties  and  such 
applause  so  unostentatiously? 

"  He  was  enriched  with  every  gift  which  can  win 
golden  opinions.  His  eloquence,  his  fire-souled  glowing 
piety,  his  commanding  presence,  caused  crowds  to  hang 
upon  his  lips  whenever  he  preached.  The  world 
admired  him.  The  denomination  delighted  to  honor 
him.  And  yet,  in  all  his  course,  it  was  manifest  that 
he  sought  only  the  honor  which  comes  from  God  ;  and 
that,  unshrinkingly  faithful  to  his  convictions,  he  was 
always  superior  alike  to  censure  and  applause. 

"  When  I  became  identified  with  the  Baptists,  I,  of 
course,  heard  much  of  Spencer  H.  Cone,  especially  of 
his  oratorical  powers  and  accomplishments.  Absorbed 
with  the  simple  glory  of  the  Atonement,  having  just 
come  from  the  arena  of  forensic  displays,  into  the 
pulpit,  I  had  then  (I  need  not  say  I  have  now  in  an 
intense  degree),  an  abhorrence  for  those  flowers,  those 
rhetorical  flourishes,  that  '  excellency  of  man's  speech 
and  wisdom,'  which  I  had  witnessed  and  heard  extolled 
in  men  called  '  pulpit  orators,'  and  which  so  tarnish  and 
degrade  the  real  glory  of  the  Gospel — the  truth  as  it  is 
in  Jesus.  I  met  your  father  first  in  Richmond.  He 
was  to  preach  the  Convention  sermon;  and,  as  I  found 
ministers  and  people  expecting  great  things,  I  feared  I 
might  have  again  to  endure  pompous,  and  florid,  and 
frothy  declamation  I  need  not  tell  you  how  delightful 
was  my  disappointment.  His  apj3earance — so  simple 
and  earnest,  his  voice — so  sweet  and  magnificent,  his 


LIFE   OF   SrENCEK   HOUGHTON   CONE.  229 

vrhole  discourse,  in  which  there  was  utter  self-oblivion, 
and  through  every  word  of  which  there  breathed  and 
burned  such  adoring  love  for  Jesus — all  this  I  remember 
as  if  it  had  been  yesterday,  and  all  this  bound  my  soul 
to  his.  He  sat  with  me,  two  days  afterwards,  when  I 
preached  on  Sunday  morning ;  and  we  left  that  Conven- 
tion, feeling  for  each  other  affinities  which  Christians 
only  can  know,  and  which  eternity,  I  humbly  trust,  will 
perfect  and  perpetuate. 

;'  I  met  him  but  twice  again.  "We  were  together  at 
the  subsequent  conventions  in  Baltimore  and  Kew 
York.  The  more  I  knew  him,  the  more  did  I  admire 
the  sincerity,  warmth,  and  purity  of  his  character. 
Splendid  as  was  his  eloquence,  it  was  one  of  his  inferior 
endowments.  Deep-toned  piety,  a  consecration  which 
led  him  to  regard  himself  as  a  perpetual  sacrifice  on  the 
great  altar  of  the  Redeemer's  Kingdom,  indefatigable 
fidelity  to  duty,  a  moral  courage  which  never  quailed 
before  opposition  or  danger,  a  heart  true,  tender,  and 
most  affectionate,  above  all,  a  glorious  loyalty  to  Christ 
and  His  cause — these  seemed  to  me  the  great  things  in 
this  great  and  good  man.  These  Christian  graces  were 
admired  by  all  who  knew  your  noble  father. 

"  It  will  be  no  easy  matter  to  fill  the  sphere  he  has 
vacated,  but  God  can  raise  up  those  who  will  stand  in 
his  place.  Of  course  I  do  not  believe  in  a  transmitted 
piety,  but  such  men  cease  not  to  live  on  earth,  though 
they  die.  Though  dead  they  speak,  speak  with  deeper 
emphasis  because  dead.  The  grave  does  not  impair,  it 
consecrates  their  power ;  such  examples  are  not  given 
us  to  be  forgotten.  At  home  his  memory  must  be 
fragrant  of  all  tender,  and  generous,  and  holy  influences." 

It  is  a  subject  of  much  regret  that  scarcely  a  record 
of  his  sermons  exists.  Delivered  wholly  extempora- 
neously, and  without  even  what  are  called  head-notes, 


230  LIFE   OF    SPENCEE   HOUGHTON    ONE. 

they  live  only  in  the  memory  of  those  who  heard 
them. 

The  great  and  decisive  reason  for  his  leaving  Alexandria, 
and  settling  in  New  York,  had  been  to  secure  the  means 
and  opportunity  for  more  strenuous  and  effectual  effort  in 
the  canse  of  missions  and  the  Bible.  His  first  acquaint- 
ance with  New  York  impressed  him  with  the  idea  that 
it  was  the  business  centre  of  the  Union,  and  as  such, 
imperatively  demanded  to  be  operated  in  as  the  business 
centre,  also,  of  those  benevolent  efforts,  to  carry  out 
which  to  successful  results  large  pecuniary  means  are 
necessary.  The  Southern  brethren  were  warm-hearted, 
generous,  and  zealous  for  the  faith,  but  too  much  scattered, 
few  of  the  churches  wealthy,  and  none  of  the  Southern 
cities  capable  of  offering  the  advantages  of  concentration, 
and  rapid  communication  with  the  whole  world.  And 
already  his  mind  had  adopted  the  idea  he  afterwards 
bore  as  the  motto  on  his  shield.  "  The  field  is  the 
world."  New  York  alone,  of  all  the  cities  of  the  Western 
World,  combined  in  it  all  the  capabilities  for  extensive 
action  in  benevolent  effort.  Endowed  by  nature  with 
many  of  the  qualities  of  a  general,  he  recognized  the 
necessity  of  assuming  the  best  geographical  position,  and 
the  one  commanding  the  approaches  to  the  object  of 
attack. 

It  was  his  conviction  that  the  system  of  Baptist  doc- 
trine and  church  government  was  the  only  pure  and 
scriptural  form  of  faith  and  practice  ;  that  from  its  fea- 
tures of  independency,  the  pure  and  simple  democracy 
developed  in  its  whole  plan  of  religious  association — it  was 
peculiarly  adapted  to  the  genius  of  the  United  States 
of  America,  and  needed  only  to  go  boldly  forward,  and 
to  rely  on  God  for  a  success  far  greater  than  it  had  ever 
yet  achieved.  To  reach  this  point  of  moral  power  and 
grandeur,  unity  of  effort  must  be  secured — not  by  sacri- 


LITE    OF    SrEXCER    HOUGHTON    COM  .  231 

ficing  a  grain  of  the  independence  of  the  churches — but 
by  operating  on  the  heads  and  hearts  of  their  members, 
that  they  might  see  eye  to  eye,  and  comprehending  the 
vast  importance  of  common  effort,  in  the  common  cause  of 
man's  salvation,  move  forward  shoulder  to  shoulder,  like 
an  army  with  banners — a  great  host  united  in  aim, 
and  hope,  and  effort.  This  was  not  a  work  to  be  accom- 
plished in  a  year,  or  ten  years.  It  was  the  work  of  a 
lifetime;  and  one  to  which  all  the  powers  of  body  and 
mind  must  be  bent  without  relaxation.  The  hand  that 
was  put  to  such  a  plough  must  never  grow  weary  ;  nor 
the  laborer  dare  ever  to  look  back  and  sigh  over  the 
lengthening  furrow.  It  was  also  a  slow  and  toilsome 
work,  and  had  many  obstacles  to  encounter.  The  spirit 
of  missions  was  far  from  universal.  Many  churches 
were  wholly  without  it.  Many  good  Baptist  preachers 
were  so  straight  in  the  faith  as  to  lean  backward  a  little, 
and  doubt  even  whether  it  were  their  duty  to  preach  to 
sinners.  The  first  association  of  churches  with  which  he 
was  connected,  in  Maryland  and  the  District  of  Columbia, 
was  decidedly  anti-mission. 

A  system,  therefore,  was  to  be  devised — prejudices 
overcome — unity  of  effort  secured — resources  created — 
a  plan  pursued,  by  which  the  force,  and  moral  as 
well  as  pecuniary  resources  of  Baptists  in  the  United 
States,  as  a  denomination  brought  to  bear  upon  the 
world,  at  home  and  abroad.  There  was,  it  is  true,  much 
and  valuable  material  to  work  with  ;  many  churches 
were  engaged  warmly  in  the  cause  of  missions.  Many 
thousand  Baptists  were  filled  with  the  spirit  of  Christian 
benevolence,  and  comprehended  the  advantages  of 
united  effort ;  but  the  denomination,  although  numbering 
its  millions  of  adherents  in  the  United  States,  had  not 
yet  begun  to  exert  a  force,  or  command  an  influence 
upon  public  opinion,  commensurate  with  its  numbers  and 


232  LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON    CONE. 

the  intrinsic  value  of  its  principles.  To  bring  about  a 
state  of  affairs  in  which  it  should  do  so,  was  the  consist- 
ent effort  of  his  religious  life.  Writing  to  Dr.  Bolles  in 
March,  1828,  he  says,  "  The  time  for  more  vigorous  action 
and  benevolence,  than  has  hitherto  characterized  our 
denominational  career,  has  indeed  come.  *  *  *  When 
I  look  over  the  map  of  the  world,  then  read  the 
Saviour's  command — '  Preach  the  Gospel  to  every  crea- 
ture— and  then  think  of  the  number  and  wealth  of 
American  Baptists,  L  am  constrained  to  say  we  have 
done  nothing  !  nothing,  compared  with  what  we  ought 
to  have  done.  *  *  *  What  cannot  be  accomplished  in 
one  day,  must  be  attempted  in  another.  Each  little 
fountain  must  be  induced  to  send  forth  its  rill,  and  each 
rill  carefully  conducted  to  the  general  reservoir,  and 
then  with  God's  gracious  aid  we  can  and  must  do.  'The 
time  is  short.'     Who  dare  stand  idle  all  the  day?" 

This  controlling  thought  of  the  shortness  of  the  time 
and  the  vastness  of  the  work  to  be  accomplished,  forbad 
him  ever  to  be  idle. 

Let  the  present  position  of  Baptists  in  the  United  States, 
clearly  occupying  no  mean  place  in  the  van  of  the  Chris- 
tian army,  in  all  benevolent  effort  and  successfully  prosecu- 
ting the  most  extensive  enterprises  for  the  evangelization 
of  the  world,  attest  the  value  of  his  services,  and  the  wis- 
dom of  his  combinations.  For  more  than  thirty  years 
second  to  none  in  the  influence  he  exercised  over  the 
denomination,  he  labored  to  perfect  all  the  details  of 
the  system,  the  workings  of  which  have  had  such  honora- 
ble and  beneficial  results. 

It     is     remarkable,    that     whilst     meditating     such 

extensive  designs,  and  en^asred  in  such  constant  execu- 
te       '  o    o 

tive  labor,  he  never  neglected,  or  subordinated  to  any- 
thing, however  great  or  far-reaching,  his  business  and 
duty  as  the  pastor  of  a  church.     He  not  only  preached 


LITE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE.  233 

constantly,  but  often  almost  daily  to  his  flock,  and  like  a 
true  shepherd,  was  acquainted  with  the  state  and  charac- 
ter of  all  who  composed  it.      He  was  their  companion, 
adviser,  and  friend.    It  was  a  part  of  that  true  system  lie 
aimed  to  develop  in  every  quarter  of  the  globe.     Every 
Missionary,  Sunday-school,  Tract,  Education,  and  Bible 
Society,  was,  in  his  eyes,  only  a  means  for  founding  inde- 
pendent and  happy  churches.     They  were  the  seed  to  be 
sown,  and  watered  with  care,  looking   to  God  for  the 
increase.     The  further  that  seed  could  be  scattered,  the 
wider  it  could  be  sown,  the  better.    But  as  the  ultimate 
object  was  the  founding  of  happy  churches,  churches 
built  up  in  their  most  holy  faith,  after  the  primitive  and 
apostolic  model,  the  corner-stone,  the  foundation  of  the 
great   building,  must   be   happy,  united,  faithful,  and 
and  faithfully  ministered  to  churches  at  home.     There- 
fore, he  watched  with  a  jealous  and  sleepless  care,  the 
state  and  character  of  his  own  particular  charge,  and  went 
in  and  out  before  them  daily,  to  minister  the  Word  of 

life. 

The  germ  of  associated  effort  already  existed  in  1813. 
Judson^  Cary,  and  Bice,  had  written  to  Drs.  Baldwin, 
Staughton,  and  others,  urging  the  formation  of  a  Baptist 
Missfonary  Society,  and  the  result  of  their  urgent  solici- 
tations was  the  formation  of  the  "  Baptist  Society  for 
propagating   the   Gospel   in   India,  and   other   foreign 

parts." 

On  the  18th  of  May,  in  the  following  year,  a  meeting 
of  pastors  of  Baptist  churches  from  various  parts  of  the 
Union,  assembled  in  Philadelphia.  Their  purpose,  as 
appears  by  their  minutes,  was  "To  organize  a  plan  for 
eliciting^  combining,  and  directing  the  energies  of  the 
whole  denomination  in  one  sacred  effort,  for  sending  the 
glad-tidino-s  of  salvation  to  the  heathen,  and  nations 
destitute  of  pure  Gospel  light."     This  meeting  resulted 


234  LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON    CONE. 

in  the  organization  of  the  Baptist  Triennial  Convention 
in  1814;  a  body  which  continued  to  grow  in  weight  and 
importance,  and  the  labors  of  which  were  singularly 
blessed  for  many  subsequent  years. 

Mr.  Cone  was  not  a  member  of  the  body  at  its  organ- 
ization, but  in  1817,  almost  at  the  very  outset  of  his 
career  as  a  preacher,  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the 
Board  of  Managers,  and  from  that  day  until  his  death, 
he  held  some  important  office  in  the  institution. 

He  seized  eagerly  upon  this  opening ;  he  recognized 
the  power  and  beauty  of  the  plan  which  might  be  car- 
ried out,  and  devoted  his  best  energies  to  its  accomplish- 
ment. 

In  less  than  two  years  after  his  coming  to  Oliver 
street,  by  his  preaching,  and  conversation  in  pastoral 
visits,  he  excited  the  attention  and  enlisted  the  sympa- 
thies of  a  majority  of  the  church  in  the  cause  of  missions, 
as  he  had  previously  done  in  Alexandria.  The  effect 
was  very  soon  apparent,  and  on  the  17th  of  October, 
1825,  the  Oliver  street  Baptist  Foreign  Mission 
Society  was  regularly  organized  by  the  adoption  of  a 
constitution,  and  the  election  of  Thomas  Garniss,  presi- 
dent, Leonard  Bleecker,  vice;  Spencer  II.  Cone,  secre- 
tary, and  Joshua  Gilbert,  treasurer.  Into  what  the 
society  grew,  and  the  extent  of  the  contributions  of  that 
church,  under  the  influence  of  his  ministry,  to  the 
benevolent  efforts  of  the  denomination,  history  has 
already  recorded.  It  is  perfectly  fair  to  say  that  he 
raised  during  his  ministry,  and  by  his  direct  appeals  to 
the  hearts  and  consciences  of  Baptists,  and  by  his 
unwearied  exertions,  more  money  for  the  cause  of  mis- 
sions, education,  Bibles,  and  every  other  form  of  benev- 
olent effort,  than  any  other  pastor  in  the  denomination. 


LIFE   OF   SPENCEK   HOUGHTON   CONE.  235 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

1823  to  1830. 

In  1824,  lie  republished  "  The  history  of  the  Christian 
church,  from  the  birth  of  Christ  to  the  18th  century, 
including  a  very  interesting  account  of  the  Waldenses 
and  Albigenses,  by  William  Jones  of  London — author 
of  the  Biblical  Cyclopedia,  etc."  The  enterprise  was  an 
unfortunate  one.  Rich  in  historical  research  as  it  was, 
and  dear  as  it  must  ever  be  to  Baptists  from  its  clear 
and  able  vindication  of  the  character  of  their  churches  in 
France  and  Piedmont,  the  sale  failed  to  pay  the 
expenses  of  the  publication.  Several  causes  concurred 
in  this  unhappy  result.  The  work  was  issued  in  two 
volumes  at  the  price  of  five  dollars.  It  no  sooner 
threatened  to  become  popular  and  saleable,  than  cheap 
editions  were  issued,  and  the  market  entirely  forestalled. 
Thus  the  book  remained  dead  upon  his  hands,  and  the 
expenses  of  publication  involved  him  for  many  years  in 
pecuniary  embarrassments,  which  straitened  his  means 
painfully,  and  filled  his  mind  with  constant  and  haras- 
ing  anxiety.  He  was  as  constantly  consoled,  however, 
by  the  idea  that,  although  he  suffered,  others  reaped 
good  fruit,  and  the  work  of  the  Lord  was  magnified; 
since  the  cheap  editions,  which  destroyed  his  chances  of 
remuneration  as  an  editor  and  publisher,  disseminated, 
even  more  widely  than  he  could  have  hoped  to  do,  a  cor- 
rect history  of  the  denomination,  and  spread  their  story 
who 


236  LIFE   OF    SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

"Kept  the  faith  so  pure  of  old, 
When  all  our  fathers  worshipped  stocks  and  stones  ; 
Who  were  God's  sheep,  and  in  their  ancient  fold 
Slain  by  the  bloody  Piedmontese,  that  rolled 
Mother  with  infant  down  the  rocks." 

Disappointment,  however,  never  long  oppressed  his 
elastic  spirit.  He  strove  very  earnestly  to  do  every- 
thing with  an  eye  single  to  the  glory  of  God  ;  and 
having  done  his  best  manfully  and  prayerfully,  he  left 
all  the  result  with  God.  All,  every  part  and  particle  he 
left  there.  He  was  accustomed  to  say,  that  all  that  was 
given  us  to  keep  or  work  with,  was  to  he  used  after  the 
best  wisdom  of  this  world,  and  the  best  light  Heaven 
would  give  its  in  answer  to  humble  and  hopeful  prayer; 
but  the  future,  God  alone  knew  it,  and  with  Him  it  was 
safe.  It  was  a  happiness  with  him,  to  have  a  trust  in 
God  which  never  wavered.  He  could  never  be  pushed, 
by  any  circumstance  of  misfortune  or  disappointment,  to 
take  a  gloomy  or  doubting  view  of  the  future.  "  Chil- 
dren," he  would  say,  "  I  know  in  whom  I  have  believed, 
and  He  is  able  to  keep  all  that  I  have  committed  to 
Him  ;  and  if  I  have  kept  anything  back  from  Him, 
I  pray  for  pardon ;  I  pray  that  it  may  be  taken  from  me. 
I  own  nothing  ;  I  am  nothing,  only  as  my  Lord  and 
Master  condescends  to  use  me.  He  will  help  me  to  do 
all  the  work  He  has  for  me  to  do  in  this  world,  and  when 
that  is  done,  He  will  take  me  home.1'  Often  his  own 
family,  with  pardonable  affection  for  himself,  wished 
him  a  little  of  that  worldly  wisdom,  the  principal 
ingredient  of  which  is  selfishness,  but  he  could  never 
learn  it.  When  a  great  object  was  to  be  compassed,  he 
was  wonderfully  astute,  and  seemed  to  "Know  all  qual- 
ities of  human  dealings,"  and  human  being-!,  "  with  a 
learned  spirit;"  hardly  ever  failing,  almost  at  a  glance, 
to  take  in  the  character  or  calibre  of  any  man,  great  or 


LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE.  237 

small,  with  whom  he  had  to  do.  But  in  any  matter  of 
mere  personal  concern,  he  was  as  innocent  and  unsus- 
pecting as  a  child.  He  never  believed  any  one  meant 
to  wrong,  or  hurt  him,  until  the  conviction  was  forced 
upon  his  mind  by  some  act,  or  series  of  acts,  not  to 
be  explained  on  any  kind  or  generous  hypothesis.  And 
if  you  could  show  him  that  all  the  world  was  against 
him,  and  eager  to  do  its  worst,  it  never  disturbed  the 
serenity*  of  his  confidence  in  God's  protection.  To 
matters  of  worldly  concern  he  could  seldom  be  aroused. 
He  disliked  thinking  of  them.  They  interfered  with 
better  thoughts.  And  when  driven  for  a  moment  to 
consider  them,  he  always  broke  away  with  the  exclam- 
ation, "  Ah,  well,  Providence  knows  better  what  we 
need  than  we  do  ourselves.  Providence  will  take  care 
of  us  all.  We'll  leave  it  there."  And  in  a  second 
he  would  forget  all  about  it,  no  matter  how  grave,  and 
go  away  into  his.  own  region  of  plans  and  purposes  for 
sending  out  missionaries,  or  making  Bibles. 

He  was  simply  the  most  enviable  man  of  his  time,  for 
no  man  or  circumstance  could  ever  keep  him  long 
enough  thinking  of  himself  to  grow  a  whit  discontented. 
"  Heart  within,  and  God  o'erhead,"  was  his  principle ; 
and  always  to  be  doing  something  in  his  Master's  work, 
his  habit.  There  he  found  an  instant  refuge  and  shelter 
from  every  storm  of  fortune. 

Much  of  this  character  of  mind  resulted  from  his 
experience  in  his  mother's  family.  The  gracious  Provi- 
dence which  had  fed  them  in  time  of  great  dearth,  and 
raised  up  good  friends  in  strange  places ;  and  then  had 
gathered  them  all,  as  it  were,  into  a  little  household 
church  of  one  faith,  where  the  interchange  of  fraternal 
and  filial  affection  was  hallowed  by  the  presence  among 
them  of  their  elder  Brother  and  Saviour,  put  away  a 


238  LIFE    OF    SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

worldly  temper  of  the  mind,  and  fostered  a  heavenly 
one. 

So,  writing  to  his  dear  sisters  after  their  mother  had 
gone  away  to  the  better  hind,  he  says — "  Our  family 
has  been  highly  favored  of  the  Lord,  and  for  those  who 
have  gone  before,  we  are  permitted  to  say  with  Paul, 
'  "We  sorrow  not  as  those  who  have  no  hope.'  We  have 
reason  to  believe  that  they  have  gone  to  that  land  of 
promise,  where  parting  is  no  more,  and  where  "sin  and 
misery  shall  never  for  a  moment  be  permitted  to  intrude. 
To  enter  that  land  will  be  happiness  enough  for  men  of 
mortal  mould,  under  any  circumstances;  but  there  is 
unquestionably,  while  we  are  here,  great  comfort  in  con- 
templating the  religion  of  Christ  as  a  family  concern; 
in  looking  upon  parents,  and  brothers,  and  sisters,  in  the 
flesh,  '  as  heirs  together  of  the  grace  of  life.'  When 
those  who  are  thus  bound  together  by  the  ties  of  nature 
are  also  lovers  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  sincerity  and 
truth,  it  gives  to  friendship  its  holiest  feature,  its  tender- 
est  chord,  its  most  permanent  character.  If  this  world. 
be  indeed  a  wilderness,  without  friendship — if  an 
infidel  philosopher  could  say,  'Banish  me  where  you 
please,  only  let  my  friend  go  with  me,  and  I'm  content — -' 
oh,  how  unspeakably  glorious  that  flame  of  heavenly 
love  which  leads  us,  like  favored  John,  to  recline  our 
heads  upon  the  bosom  of  that  Friend  who  sticketh  closer 
than  a  brother— which  imparts  to  us  one  common  salva- 
tion— directs  us  to  the  same  altar— animates  us  with  the 
same  prospects,  and  makes  us,  even  on  earth,  helpers  of 
each  other's  faith,  and  hope,  and  peace,  and  joy. 

"  '  Oh,  for  this  love,  let  rocks  and  hills, 
Their  lasting  silence  break ; 
Ami  all  harmonious  human  tongues, 
The  Saviour's  praises  speak  1' 


LIFE    OF  :    HOUGHTON    CONE.  239 

"There  is,  perhaps,  no  point  in  this  world  when 
family  religion  affords  such  soul-thrilling  consolation, 
as  when  death  is  approaching.  The  separation  of 
beloved  friends  will  be  painful,  it  is  true — tears  will 
flow.  At  the  grave  of  Lazarus,  'Jesus  wept.'  But 
these  tears  are  soon  wiped  away  with  the  reflection — ■ 
'  the  y  are  not  dead,  but  gone  before!  We  shall  soon 
meet  again,  where  there  is  no  death,  and  where  not  an 
inhabitant  shall  ever  say,  '  I  am  sick.' 

"  '  The  Christian's  soul  death  cannot  reach, 
Nor  rend  from  Christ  away  ; 
Though  o'er  the  mouldering  dust  it  boasts 
The  triumph  of  a  day!' 

"  But  are  we  called  to  part  without  a  hope  in  Christ? 
Oh !  what  dying  looks !  they  seem  to  say — farewell 
forever!  We  must  not  meet  again!  From  such  a 
family  scene,  O  Lord,  preserve  us  ever. 

"We  have  entered  upon  a  new  year  (1827),  and  it  ia 
the  fashion  here  to  say,  'many  happy  returns  of  it." 
Our  years  whether  few  or  many,  if  they  be  only  spent 
in  the  service  of  the  best  of  Masters,we  may  bid  them 
speed  their  flight. 

"'By  day,  by  night,  at  home,  abroad, 
Still  we  are  guarded  by  our  God ; 
The  opening  year  his  mercy  shows, 
May  mercy  crown  it  till  it  close.'  " 

About  this  time  he  also  published  a  small  work  called 
the  "Backslider."  The  sale,  we  believe,  very  nearly 
covered  the  cost  of  the  production. 

After  his  settlement  in  Oliver  street,  Mr.  Williams's 
health  and  strength  continued  gradually  failing,  and  on 
the  22d  of  May,  1825,  he  was  gathered  home.     Among 


24:0  LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

Mr.  Cone's  papers  we  find  a  slip  containing  the  follow- 
ing memoranda : 

"  John  Williams  born  at  Plasllecheiddior,  a  farm 
which  had  for  many  generations  been  the  homestead  of 
lii's  family,  Carnarvonshire,  North  Wales.  Early  exer- 
cised about  divine  things.  In  the  19th  year  of  his  age 
made  public  profession  among  the  Independents,  and 
joined  the  church  under  the  pastoral  care  of  Dr.  Lewis,  of 
whose  ministry  he  always  spoke  in  terms  of  the  highest 
commendation.  His  mind  soon  troubled  concerning 
Baptism  ;  1  Cor.  xv.  29  staggered  him.  Dr.  Lewis  con- 
fessed it  had  some  reference  to  burial  and  resurrection. 
All  this  resulted  in  his  being  baptized,  in  the  21st  year 
of  his  age,  and  uniting  with  the  Baptist  church  of 
Horeb,  Carnarvonshire.  This  church,  consisting  of  one 
hundred  and  forty  members,  called  him  to  take  charge 
of  them.  He  consented,  and  travelled  and  collected 
enough  to  build  two  meeting-houses  for  the  church. 
July  25th,  1795,  landed  in  New  York.  Preached  in 
Welch  about  one  year.  Afterwards  part  in  Welch  and 
part  in  English. 

"  April,  1797 — visited  Pennsylvania. 

"  August  28th,  1798.  At  their  unanimous  request, 
became  a  member,  and  accepted  pastoral  care  of  the 
church  in  Fayette  street,  now  Oliver  street,  having  pre- 
viously preached  nine  months  on  trial. 

"  Thirty  names  on  church-book.  Ten  had  removed — 
only  twenty  living  in  New  York.  Meeting-house 
thirty  feet  square — benches — no  galleries. 

"January,  1799— pews  substituted  and  gallery  raised. 

"  August  4th.     Thomas  Hewitt  baptized. 

"  October  29th.     John  Cauldwell  and  wife  received. 

"  1800.     Meeting-house  enlarged  to  60  by  43  feet. 

"  1801.  June  1st,  John  Withington  and  wife  received. 

"  1819.     Meeting-house  rebuilt,  64  by  94  feet. 


LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE.  ?AX 

«  Proper  t  number  of  members  (182-)  580. 
"  Baptized  near  600." 

The  same  paper  contains  also  the  following  heads  of 
the  funeral  discourse  preached  by  him  at  Mr.  William's 
death.  We  copy  it,  as  it  appeals  to  have  been  the  only 
occasion  upon  which  he  deviated  from  his  usual  prac- 
tice of  carrying  his  notes  in  his  head,  and  put  a  skeleton 
upon  paper.  The  paper,  we  believe,  was  not  carried 
into  the  pn'pit.  He  was  evidently  impressed  with  it 
as  being  a  momentous  epoch  in  his  experience  as  a 
preacher. 

"'  Faithful  servant  depart  in  peace.  Lord  now  lettest 
Thou.'— Luke  ii.  29. 

"Occasion  of  the  discourse. — The  death  of  Elder  Jno. 
Williams.  Opposed  to  funeral  discourses  generally — 
this  a  proper  exception.  Promise  to  Simeon  fulfilled. 
'  Lettest  Thou.'  A  prayer  expressing  great  desire  to 
be  with  Christ,  or  '  Thou  lettest.'  God  is  faithful  to 
His  Word.  My  work  is  done.  I  have  seen  Thy  salvation. 
Thou  dost  release  me  from  earth  according  to  thy  Word. 

"Division  of  discourse. — 1.  Character  of  a  servant.  2. 
Privilege  of  a  servant. 

"  All  by  nature  servants  of  sin :  by  Grace  made  serv- 
ants of  Christ. 

"1.  Bought  with  a  price.  2.  Clothed  upon  with  his 
righteousness,  3.  Reconciled  to  His  service.  4.  Fed  by 
His  bread.  5.  Obedient  to  His  law.  6.  Do  His  work. 
A  faithful  servant.  An  humble  servant.  An  affection- 
ate servant.     A  successful  servant. 

"  Privileges: — 

"  1.  To  be  at  peace  with  God.  2.  To  preach  peace 
through  Christ.  3.  To  make  peace  in  Zion.  4.  To 
enjoy  peace  of  soul.     5.  To  depart  in  peace  !" 

From  the  day  of  his  settlement  in  New  York,  he 
11 


24:2  LIFE   CF   SPENCEK   HOUGHTON    CONE. 

entered  with  increasing  zeal  upon  a  scene  of  varied  and 
multiplied  duties,  which  nothing  but  a  remarkable 
physical  constitution,  and  the  best  habits  of  business 
regularity  and  order,  could  enable  a  single  man  to 
accomplish.  Seizing  the  laboring  oar  in  every  benevo- 
lent society,  with  which  he  became  connected,  and  few 
were  absent  from  his  list,  he  put  all  his  strength  to  it, 
and  pulled  with  equal  alacrity,  in  storm  and  sunshine, 
whether  upon  a  summer  sea,  or  when  the  waves  ran 
mountain  high.  He  never  seemed  to  feel  fatigued,  or 
desirous  of  an  hour's  rest.  Idleness  was  impossible.  He 
rarely  sat  down,  even  in  the  house.  He  conned  over 
and  arranged  in  his  mind,  sermon,  lecture,  or  address, 
as  he  walked  along  the  street,  turning  it  over  and  over 
with  himself,  sometimes  mentally,  sometimes  half  audi- 
bly, unconscious  of  where  he  was,  and  totally  abstracted 
from  all  that  was  going  on  about  him.  Thus  he  was 
never  unprepared,  and  no  emergency  could  take  him  at 
a  disadvantage.  Knowledge  drawn  from  books,  obser- 
vation, conversation,  principles,  objects,  were  all  clearly 
defined  and  laid  down  in  his  mind  as  in  a  book,  and  the 
moment  the  occasion  demanded  it,  he  simply  rose  and 
read,  as  it  were,  a  chapter  long  digested  and  arranged. 
Circumstances  of  public  excitement  merely  warmed  his 
mind  to  a  poetic  coloring,  and  added  strength  of  expres- 
sion. Facts,  dates,  anecdote,  principles  were  all  set  in 
order  and  ready  beforehand.  The  certainty  and  useful- 
ness of  this  system  of  mental  training  will  appear,  from 
a  little  sketch  of  his  advice  to  young  preachers  with 
which  we  have  been  favored,  and  which  will  form  the 
subject  of  another  chapter.  About  this  time  the  Lord 
had  in  store  for  him  an  additional  trial.  His  only 
brother  Joseph  fell  ill.  The  malady  which  had  already 
made  such  havoc  in  the  family,  appeared  to  have 
selected,  in  him,  another  victim. 


LITE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE.  243 

JVov.  roth,  1830—Mr.  Cone  writes  to  their  sister, 
|  I  wrote  to  Joseph  by  Brother  Gray.     An  hour  a*o  I 
had    the   comfort   o:   conversing  with  Brother  Wifson 
who  saw  him  on  Wednesday  eyeuin*.     He  tells  me  that 
the  physicians  entertaiD  hut  little  hope  of  his  recovery 
but  Brother  A\  ilson  thinks  he  is  by  no  means  so  low  as 
he  was  himself  last  spring;  and  is  under  the  impression 
that ;  a  trip  to  the  South  might  he  greatly  beneficial. 
brother  Wilson  expects  to  leave  here  about  the  10th  of 
December,  and  wishes  Joseph  to  accompany  him 

^  It  is  very  difficult  for  me  to  leave  home.  Every  dav 
tongs  with  it  a  press  of  business,  from  which  I  can  only 
retire  when  necessity  compels.  I  hope  Joseph  may  b- 
spared  a  little  longer,  if  it  be  the  Master's  will,  and'  if  a 
journey  to  the  South  be  deemed  advisable  I  will 
endeavor  to  make  a  way  for  the  experiment.  May  the 
Lord  prepare  us  for  what  may  yet  await  us  in  Provi- 
dence. Our  way  has  already  been  somewhat  rough  to 
our  feet,  and  it  is  more  than  probable  that  additional 
troubles  will  be  necessary  to  wean- us  from  earth.  Mav 
we  hnd  it  good  to  be  afflicted." 

Joseph  was  his  only  brother,  and  much  younger  than 
himself.  He  had  given  him  a  sterling  education,  and 
had  intended  to  fit  him  for  some  one  of  the  learned 
professions  ;  but  an  early  passion  for  art  frustrated  the 
design. 

His  taste  for  art  turned  his  mind  towards  engravine 
as  the  readiest  means  of  at  once  satisfying  a  passion,  and 
earning  a  living.  It  was  found  useless  to  oppose  him 
and  he  became  an  engraver.  He  settled  in  Baltimore 
after  he  entered  upon  his  profession,  and  married  there 
Miss  Mary  Ann  Diffendaffer.  Two  sons  and  four 
daughters  were  the  fruit  of  their  union. 

He  was  happily  converted,    and  joined   the  Baptist 
church  in  Philadelphia  before  his  brothei  Spencer.     The 


244  LIFE    OF  SPENCEE    HOUGHTON    CONE. 

brothers  possessed  a  good  deal  of  similarity.  His  man- 
ners were  mild  and  pleasing,  and  his  general  reading 
and  information  large  and  elegant  His  gentle  disposi- 
tion, and  quiet  humor  made  him  a  delightful  companion, 
and  much  sought  after  in  society.  Some  time  after  his 
settlement  in  Baltimore  the  church  licensed  him  to 
preach,  and  his  talents  as  a  public  speaker  were  of  a 
high  order.  His  brother's  greatness  in  that  way,  how- 
ever, always  acted  as  a  check  upon  him,  and  indisposed 
him  to  frequent  effort.  He  referred  his  holding  back  to 
a  thousand  causes,  and  persuaded  himself  that  they  were 
a  sufficient  excuse,  but  it  was  evident  that  dissatisfaction 
with  his  own  efforts  was  the  real  reason.  Endowed  with 
a  mind  essentially  artistic,  he  admired  his  brother's 
larger  capacities  enthusiastically,  and  by  comparison  cri- 
ticised his  own  too  closely.  He  often  told  a  pleasant 
anecdote  of  his  experience  as  a  preacher  in  Virginia. 
Making  a  tour  through  that  State,  for  the  sake  of 
his  health,  which  had  been  threatened  by  serious 
dyspeptic  symptoms,  the  result  of  too  close  application 
to  the  graver,  he  went  armed  with  letters  of  introduc- 
tion from  his  brother  to  the  principal  people  of  the 
denomination.  He  announced  his  name,  and  was  received 
with  open  arms.  Presented  his  letters — they  were  read, 
and  the  recipients  grasping  his  hand  with  more  than  com- 
mon warmth  of  hospitality,  as  if  to  make  up  for  their 
words,  usually  said — "Mr.  Joseph  Cone,  we're  very 
glad  to  see  you  amongst  us ;  but  we  wish  it  had  been 
Spencer !" — Joseph's  eyes  would  twinkle  with  fun  as  he 
told  it,  and  he  vowed  Spencer  should  never  write  him 
another  set  of  introductory  letters. 

Joseph  Cone  spent  the  winter  of  1S29  in  South  Caro 
lina.       Writing    from    Charleston,    he    says,    "  Brother 
Manly  urges  me  strongly  to  give  myself  wholly  to  the 
ministry,  and  be  in  Charleston  the  second  Lord's-day 


LIFE    OF    SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE.  215 

in  December,  when  the  State  Convention  will  be  held, 
and  when  I  shall  probably  be  directed  at  once  into  some 
interesting  field  of  labor.  Among  other  destitute 
churches,  he  mentions  that  of  Columbia.  Weak  as  I  am, 
the  Lord  still  holds  me  up  to  do  a  hard  day's  work.  As 
a  preacher  of  the  Gospel  I  do  not  at  present  feel  it  my 
duty  to  go  to  one  place  more  than  another.  The  only 
question,  therefore,  that  requires  an  answer  is  this  :  Does 
my  health  demand  a  change  of  climate  ?  Were  my 
desires  to  promote  the  Redeemer's  kingdom  among  men 
(alas  !  how  faint  and  few),  much  stronger  and  more  fre- 
quent than  they  are,  I  should  doubtless,  whTe  confined 
to  secular  affairs,  feel  more  unhappy  than  I  do.  But  I 
am  yet  far  from  being  convinced  that  I  would  be  justi- 
fied in  entirely  abandoning  them.  I  beg  you,  however, 
to  try  and  submit  the  case  to  your  own  judgment — apart 
from  what  appear  to  be  my  convictions  of  duty.  If  you 
say  go,  I'll  go  willingly  and  cheerfully,  in  the  humble 
hope  that  the  presence  of  the  Lord  will  go  with  me,  and 
that  I  shall  find,  by  happy  experience,  that  'He  giveth 
power  to  the  faint,  and  to  them  that  have  no  might  He 
increaseth  strength.'  " 

Providence,  however,  had  appointed  him  an  early 
release  from  the  cares  of  earth.  He  never  had  an  oppor- 
tunity of  dedicating  himself  wholly  to  the  preaching  of 
the  Gospel.  His  health  grew  very  rapidly  feebler;  and 
in  the  latter  part  of  1830,  he  sailed  from  New  York  to  St. 
Augustine,  to  try  the  possible  benefit  of  that  mild  and 
salubrious  climate.  He  was  accompanied  by  James 
Wilson,  one  of  the  deacons  of  Oliver  street  church, 
whose  kind  and  constant  care  consoled  him  to  the  last. 
The  disease  was  not  to  be  stayed ;  it  had  struck  home, 
and  he  expired  on  the  4th  of  January,  1831.  His  last 
hours  were  happy  and  peaceful.     He  went  home  full 


246  LITE   OF    SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

of  joy  at  his  release  from  pain  ;  and  his  dust  mingles 
with  its  kindred  dust  in  the  city  of  St.  Augustine. 

His  loss  was  a  severe  one  to  his  brother ;  an  irrepa- 
rable one  to  his  family.  In  the  mysterious  providence 
of  God,  he  was  taken  away  at  the  very  moment  when  a 
sense  of  duty  had  conquered  his  natural  disinclination 
to  public  life,  and  he  had  resolved  to  dedicate  his  talents 
wholly  to  the  ministry,  for  which  they  so  eminently 
qualified  him. 


LITE   Or   BPENCER   HOEGIITON    CONE.  247 


CHAPTEK  XIV. 

1830  to  1841. 

Tiie  character  and  influence  of  the  "  Baptist  General 
Convention  of  the  United  States  "  is  a  matter  of  history. 
It  was  the  first  General  Congress  or  representative 
body  of  the  denomination  in  America,  both  in  point  of 
organization  and  influence.  It  gave  form  and  shape  to 
the  efforts  of  the  whole  denomination  at  home  and 
abroad,  and  from  the  period  of  its  inception  in  1814,  to 
its  dissolution  in  1845,  exercised  a  powerful  influence 
for  good,  in  connection  with  every  benevolent  enterprise 
which  appealed  to  the  principles  and  sympathies  of 
Baptists. 

Mr.  Cone  was  elected  a  member  of  its  board  of 
managers,  at  its  second  session  in  1817,  and  both  in  its 
deliberations,  and  executive  action,  continued  to  take  a 
leading  and  active  part  as  long  as  it  existed.  In  the 
interim  between  the  Triennial  sessions  of  the  parent 
body,  an  executive  Board  conducted  its  business. 
That  Board  not  being  located  where  Mr.  Cone  resided, 
he  communicated  to  them  his  views,  principally,  by 
letter.  After  the  separation  in  1845,  a  Missionary  Con- 
vention was  formed  at  the  South,  and  a  Missionary 
Union  at  the  North.  Mr.  Cone's  location  in  New  York, 
made  it  in  his  opinion  necessary  and  wise  that  he  should 
continue  to  act  with  the  Northern  organization.  Through 
the  kindness  of  Dr.  Stow,  we  have  been  favored  writh 
the  file  of  his  letters  to  the  acting  Board  at  Boston, 
from  1827  to  1849. 


24:8  LIFE    OF    SPENCER    HOUGHTON    CONE. 

In  1832  he  was  elected  president  of  the  Convention, 
and  continued  to  be  re-elected  until  positively  refusing 
the  honor.  During  the  nine  years  in  which  he  presided 
over  the  deliberations  of  that  body,  it  very  generally 
and  satisfactorily  represented  the  Baptist  Denomination 
of  the  United  States.  Its  deliberations  were  marked  by 
great  dignity  of  tone,  and  harmony  of  design  and  feel- 
ing. His  ability,  as  a  presiding  officer,  in  the  manage- 
ment of  a  deliberative  body,  is  conceded  to  have  greatly 
conduced  to  this  harmonious  action,  and  the  Christian 
union  of  sentiment  which  marked  its  sessions.  His 
labors,  however,  did  not  end  with  the  termination  of  its 
triennial  sessions.  In  these  interims  his  peculiar  force 
and  efficiency  as  an  executive  officer,  made  itself  felt 
wherever  the  influence  of  the  Convention  extended. 
Whilst  discharging,  with  unintermitting  activity,  his 
duties  as  the  pastor  of  a  church,  scarcely  a  day  passed 
without  his  communicating  either  with  the  acting  board 
or  some  of  the  numerous  missionaries  laboring  under 
its  patronage  in  the  home  and  foreign  held.  Judson, 
Kincaid,  McCoy — nearly  all  the  missionaries,  indeed, 
kept  up  a  constant  and  intimate  correspondence  with 
him.  With  tbe  most  of  them  he  was  personally 
acquainted,  and  they  felt  that  they  had  in  him  a  dispas- 
sionate, careful,  and  consistent  friend.  But  whether 
personally  acquainted  or  not,  all  knew  him  as  president 
of  the  Convention  which  sustained  them,  and  deeply 
interested  in  everything  connected  with  their  efforts 
and  labors  to  spread  the  Gospel  in  foreign  lands.  The 
majority  of  the  letters  received  by  him  from  the 
missionaries — indeed,  almost  all  which  contained  any 
matter  of  general  interest  or  information,  he  published 
during  his  lifetime,  and  circulated  as  widely  as  possible, 
for  the  purpose  of  fostering  everywhere  the  spirit  of 
Missions,  by  keeping  up  a  constant  and  lively  interest 


LIFE    OF    SFENCEK   HOUGHTON    CONE.  219 

in  the  several  missionaries  and  the  stations  occupied  by 
them.  He  acted  always  upon  the  principle  of  an  out- 
spoken frankness  ;  as  he  says  in  a  letter  to  Dr.  Peck, 
May  24th,  1848 — after  detailing  his  reasons  for  desiring 
the  French  mission  to  be  vigorously  prosecuted,  "These 
are  part  of  the  things  I  have  said  to  Brother  Devan, 
whom  I  dearly  love  in  the  Lord.  I  tell  them  to  you, 
because  I  have  no  secret  opinions,  or  private  ends  to 
answer  in  the  things  of  the  kingdom." 

"Whilst  residing  in  Virginia,  he  became  personally 
acquainted  with  Ann  Hazel  tine  Judson,  on  the  occasion 
of  her  visit  to  the  United  Sates.  During  all  his  after 
life,  he  spoke  of  her  in  terms  of  the  warmest  admiration. 
Words,  indeed,  seemed  to  him  weak  to  express  his 
appreciation  of  her  worth  as  a  woman,  a  wife,  and  a 
missionary  of  the  Cross. 

In  1841,  the  Convention  met  in  Baltimore.  At  that 
meeting  he  stated  that,  having  been  honored  for  nine 
years  past,  with  the  appointment  of  president  of  that 
body,  he  desired,  for  weighty  and  important  reasons,  to 
decline  a  re-election.  Many  endeavored  to  persuade 
him  to  reconsider  his  decision,  but  he  persisted  in  it. 

In  a  letter  to  Dr.  Bolles,  dated  April  loth,  1841,  he 
says  :  "  As  I  told  Brother  Lincoln,  it  is  my  ardent  desire 
to  decline  re-election  as  president  of  the  Convention, 
and  you  will  please  ascertain  whether  Brother  Sharp 
and  the  Acting  Board  approve  such  a  course  ;  nothing 
would  induce  me  to  occupy  that  distinguished  position 
but  your  sober,  preconceived,  and  settled  opinion  that 
the  cause  of  Missions  would  be  benefited  thereby.  For 
that  cause  I  am  willing  to  sacrifice  feeling  and  forego 
my  own  pleasure.  But  my  private  judgment  decided 
three  years  ago  in  favor  of  a  president  from  the  South  ; 
and  I  should  then  have  adopted  the  course  now  proposed, 

11* 


250  LIFE   OF   SPENCEK   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

but  that  you,  and  Peck,  and  Babcock,  and  Bennett,  and 
several  others  to  whom  it  was  mentioned,  insisted  upon 
my  not  saying  a  word,  but  leaving  the  matter  in  the 
hands  of  the  Convention." 

He  accordingly  resigned,  and  Rev.  William  B. 
Johnson,  of  South  Carolina,  was  elected  in  his  place. 

That  Mr.  Cone's  resignation  did  not  ultimately  con- 
duce to  a  continuation  of  their  union,  events  unhappily 
demonstrated. 

On  this  point,  the  evidence  of  Rev.  J.  B.  Jeter,  of 
Richmond,  Ya.,  incidentally  given  in  a  letter  to  us,  dated 
January,  29th  1856,  throws  some  light.  "  My  acquaint- 
ance with  him,"  he  says,  "did  not  commence  until 
several  years  after  his  removal  from  the  State;  and 
I  never  enjoyed  the  pleasure  of  seeing  him,  except  at 
our  larger  denominational  meetings,  where  our  inter- 
course wras  mostly  official  and  public.  He  visited  this 
city  several  times  after  my  personal  knowledge  of  him 
began.  Once  to  attend  the  meeting  of  the  Baptist 
Triennial  Convention,  and  on  other  occasions  as  a  rep- 
resentative of  the  American  and  Foreign  Bible  Society, 
at  our  Virginia  Baptist  Anniversaries.  His  presence 
here  was  always  hailed  with  delight.  No  preacher  could 
draw  a  larger  congregation  in  Richmond  than  he  could. 
The  largest  house  of  worship  could  not,  under  favorable 
circumstances,  contain  the  crowds  that  flocked  to  hear 
him.  Several  causes  contributed  to  increase  his  popu- 
larity as  a  preacher.  Independent  of  the  evangelical 
matter  of  his  sermons,  and  the  sprightly,  earnest,  and 
impressive  manner  of  their  delivery,  a  manner  well 
suited  to  the  Virginian  taste,  the  circumstance  that  he 
once  resided  south  of  the  Potomac,  that  he  had  uni- 
formly cherished  a  fraternal  feeling  towards  the  Ba|jtists 
of  the  South,  and  that  he  occupied  a  prominent  position 


LIFE    OF    SPENCER    HOUGHTON    CONE.  251 

in  tlie  churches  of  the  commercial  metropolis  of  the 
nation,  served  to  heighten  the  interest  with  which  his 
ministrations  were  received. 

"It  was,  however,  in  my  judgment,  as  a,  platform 
her  that  he  mostly  excelled.  He  eminently -pos- 
sessed that  self  control,  quickness  of  conception,  readi- 
ness of  speech,  gracefulness  of  manner,  and  firmness  of 
purpose  which,  in  extempore  debate,  made  him  a  power- 
ful opponent,  and  gave  him  a  controlling  influence  in 
popular  assemblies. 

"Some  of  his  speeches  I  remember  as  rare  specimens 
of  eloquent- and  forcible  discussion. 

"  His  qualifications  as  a  presiding  officer  in  deliberative 
bodies  are  well  known.  His  acquaintance  with  parlia- 
mentary rules ;  his  promptness,  firmness,  and  urbanity, 
aided  by  the  clearness  of  his  voice,  and  the  venerable- 
ness  of  his  appearance,  rendered  him  the  most  efficient 
chairman  that  I  have  ever  known. 

"On  the  sectional  questions  that  unfortunately  agitated 
the  Baptist  denomination,  he  uniformly  pursued  a  pru- 
dent, and  conservative  course.  He  acted  upon  the  prin- 
ciple, frequently  asserted  by  the  venerable  Father  Ben- 
net,  that,  '  Mason  and  Dixon's  line  does  not  run  through 
the  Kingdom  of  Jesus  Christ?  Had  the  Baptists  gener- 
ally been  actuated  by  the  spirit  of  Dr.  Cone,  and  pursued 
his  candid  and  conciliating  course,  nothing  could  have 
occurred  to  disturb  the  harmony,  or  paralyze  the  labors 
of  the  denomination  of  which  he  was  so  distinguished  an 
ornament.  It  cannot  be  surprising,  in  view  of  these 
considerations,  that  he  should  have  acquired  and  main- 
tained a  strong  hold  on  the  confidence  and  affections  of 
the  Baptists  in  the  South.  His  recommendation  gave  to 
any  man  a  ready  access  to  their  regards  and  hospitality. 
His  name  carried  an  influence  among  them  which  was 
accorded  to  few  others.     No  man,  not  residing  in  the 


252  LIFE   OF    SPENCEK   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

South,  was  better  known  to  them,  or  more  highly 
appreciated  by  them ;  nor  was  there  one  whose  opinions 
commanded  more  respect. 

"  It  was  my  fortune  to  differ  from  him  on  several 
questions  of  expediency,  but  these  differences  did  not 
diminish  the  high  regard  in  which  I  held  him.  I  have 
often  said,  and  now  take  pleasure  in  saying,  after  all  the 
causes  of  difference  are  buried  in  his  tomb,  and  a  calm 
retrospection  of  the  events  of  the  past  thirty  years,  that 
no  man  within  that  period,  has  occupied  a  more  promi- 
nent place,  wielded  a  mightier  influence,  or  established 
a  higher  claim  to  grateful  homage,  in  the  Baptist 
denomination  than  he.  I  venerate  him  for  his  princi- 
ples, his  talents,  his  labors,  his  usefulness." 

On  the  11th  of  February,  1810,  his  third  sister,  Martha, 
died  of  consumption.  She  was  a  woman  of  very  pecu- 
liar mind.  An  earnest  and  devoted  Christian,  she  was 
possessed  of  almost  masculine  energy  and  spirit.  Her 
understanding  was  strong,  and  her  ideas  of  duty  parti- 
cularly clear  and  energetic.  After  her  brother's  removal 
from  Philadelphia,  she  was  the  mainstay  of  the  family, 
and  looked  up  to  as  guide  and  counsellor  in  all  the  affairs 
of  daily  life.  As  a  member  of  Sansom  street  church, 
she  wras  one  of  the  "honorable  women,"  in  the  cause  of 
Christian  effort  and  benevolence.  Like  her  brother, 
rest  or  inaction  were  impossible  to  her,  and  it  is 
undoubtedly  owing  to  that  energetic  quality  of  her 
mind,  her  mental  vitality,  if  we  may  use  the  expression, 
that  she  was  enabled  to  struggle  for  years  against  the 
disease  to  which  she  finally  succumbed. 

Martha  was  very  dear,  not  only  to  her  brother,  but  to 
all  his  family.  She  was  a  frequent  guest  with  them  in 
New  York  ;  and  being  greatly  gifted  in  conversation, 
and  combining  much  sweetness  of  disposition  with 
a  directness  of  purpose  and  force  of  character,  which 


LIFE    OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE.  253 

made  itself  felt  on  all  around  her,  her  death  "was  felt  as 
no  common  bereavement. 

In  the  year  1841  he  also  resigned  the  charge  of  the 
church  in  Oliver  street.  Many  of  the  members  he  had 
found  there  were  from  the  Old  World.  They  never 
cordially  embraced  the  strict  Baptist  doctrines  which 
he  preached,  nor  thoroughly  sympathized  with  his  strong 
and  strongly-expressed  Americanism.  From  these  and 
a  variety  of  causes,  he  became  unhappy  in  his  pastoral 
relations  to  that  church,  and  on  the  21st  of  April,  1811, 
sent  in  his  letter  of  resignation.  This  letter,  which  is 
dated  April  21st,  1811,  begins  as  follows: — "To  the 
brethren  and  sisters  composing  the  Oliver  street  Baptist 
church,  Kew  York.  Beloved  in  the  Lord — my  heart 
indites  this  letter,  with  emotions  of  tenderness  which  a 
pastor  only  can  feel.  Many  of  you  are  my  joy  and  my 
crown  ;  so  stand  fast  in  the  Lord  my  dearly-beloved  I 
that  whether,  as  heretofore,  I  should  see  your  faces 
statedly  in  the  sanctuary,  or  not,  I  may  at  least  hear  of 
your  state,  and  know  that  the  Gospel  of  the  Grace  of 
God  which  I  have  preached  to  you,  has  not  been  in 
vain  in  the  Lord. 

"  After  laboring  among  you  for  eighteen  years,  with 
such  mental  and  physical  energies  as  have  been 
bestowed  upon  me  by  the  Saviour  of  sinners,  I  am  con- 
strained to.  resign  my  pastoral  charge  :  and  in  doing 
this ;  first  of  all,  I  would  render  unfeigned  and  heart- 
felt thanks  to  the  Father  of  lights,  for  the  souls  He  has 
given  me  for  my  hire,  and  for  the  measure  of  success 
vouchsafed  in  building  up  the  Saints  on  their  most  holy 
faith.      *  *  *  *  *  *  * 

"  And  to  those  who  are  attached  to  me  as  a  Christian ; 
who  have  never  been  ashamed  of  the  Gospel  I  have 
preached,  but  have  stood  by  me  in  the  time  of  trial,  in 
the   midst   of  all   the   charms   of  new  men   and  new 


25i  LIFE   OF   SPENCER    HOUGHTON   CONE. 

measures ;  who  have  ministered  to  my  support  with  a 
ready  mind,  and  whose  prayers  and  alms  have  gone  up 
together  before  the  throne*  to  such,  language  has  no 
words  adequately  to  express  the  depth  of  my  enduring 
affection.  May  God  Almighty  bless  you  in  all  your 
outgoings  and  incomings,  in  your  basket  and  store,  in 
your  bodies  and  spirits,  for  time  and  for  eternity. 

"For  those  who  may  wish  still  to  sit  under  my 
ministry,  an  opportunity,  I  trust,  in  the  all  wise  Provi- 
dence of  God,  will  be  afforded  ;  and  to  point  them  to 
the  Lamb  of  Godr  whose  blood  cleanseth  from  all  sin, 
will  give  me  great  delight.  Such  as  remain  in  Oliver 
street,  whether  from  the  ties  of  blood  ;  the  persuasion 
of  friends  ;  the  size,  or  wealth,  or  respectability  of  the 
church  ;  the  associations  of  by-gone  years,  or  from  a 
sense  of  duty  to  aid  in  sustaining  our  cause  in  that  por- 
tion of  the  city  ;  upon  them  I  do  fervently  implore  the 
rich  blessing  of  Joseph,  until  the  branches  shall  run 
over  the  wall."     *     *     * 

The  letter  proceeds  to  state,  at  considerable  length, 
the  reasons  which  have  brought  him  to  believe  that  the 
term  of  his  usefulness  amongst  them  has  arrived.  It 
also  enters  into  a  consideration  of  the  state  of  the  first 
Baptist  church,  the  call  of  which  he  has  accepted,  and 
the  reasons  which  have  induced  him  to' think  that  duty 
required  him  to  accept  that  call.  The  letter  then  closes 
with  the  following  sentence : — "  The  Gospel  I  have 
preached  to  you,  is  the  Gospel  of  peace  and  love ! 
Farewell !  and  through  the  riches  of  superabounding 
grace,  may  we  all  at  last  meet  in  a  better  country, 
where  there  is  no  selfishness,  but  where  we  shall  love  our 
neighbor  as  we  love  ourselves  !     Even   so  Lord  Jesus." 

In  a  letter  to  Dr.  Dagg,  under  date  of  August  16th, 
1841 — he  refers  to  his  resignation  of  the  pastoral  charge 
of  Oliver  street  church  ;  his  acceptance  of  the  call  of 


LIFE    OF    SPENCER    HOUGHTON    CONE.  255 

the  first  church  ;  and  also  to  the  results  of  the  meeting 
of  the  Convention  at  Baltimore. 

''Your  kind  letter,"  he  says,  "  was  received  before 
the  meeting  of  the  General  Convention,  and  I  was  much 
disappointed  in  not  seeing  you  in  Baltimore,  upon  an 
occasion  so  vitally  connected  with  the  benevolent  efforts 
of  our  denomination.  That  you  lacked  'influence' 
either  with  the  South  or  the  North,  1  cannot,  for  a 
moment,  admit,  for  I  know  of  no  one  whose  voice  would 
have  commanded  more  respect  in  our  anxious  and 
important  session  ;  but  you  had,  no  doubt,  many  other 
considerations  than  the  one  named  to  keep  you  at  home. 
The  Lord,  I  believe,  was  in  our  midst,  and  to  Ilitn 
belongs  all  the  glory  of  whatever  sentiments  of  kindness, 
benevolence,  and  union,  it  was  our  happiness  to  witness, 
and  few  of  us,  I  trust,  but  felt,  and  will  long  remember, 
that  He  was  better  to  us  than  our  fears,  and  infinitely 
better  than  our  deserts. 

"  h\  the  paper  submitted  to  the  Southern  brethren,  in 
Baltimore,  you  have  my  views  of  church  fellowship, 
and  I  was  gratified  that  it  was  so  generally  and  cordially 
signed  by  those  present.  It  contributed  somewhat,  1 
think,  to  produce  in  all  minds,  a  determination  to  attend 
to  the  appropriate  missionary  and  Bible  business  that 
called  us  together,  and  not  to  suffer  any  irrelevant  matter 
to  be  introduced,  even  in  the  shape  of  a  commendatory 
resolution.  To  a  strict  adherence  to  this  determination 
I  ascribe,  under  God,  the  delightful  general  results  of 
our  Baltimore  meetings. 

"  Upon  the  whole,  I  am  decidedly  of  the  opinion  that 
we  shall  continue  to  act  as  a  denomination,  in  Bible 
and  missionary  operations,  through  our  present  organi- 
zations, at  least  till  the  next  Triennial  Convention,  and 
I  hope  a  great  many  years  longer ;  and  for  this  we  must 
not  only  hope,  but  labor,  and  watch,  and  pray. 


256  LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

"  I  have  resigned,  as  you  have  seen,  the  charge  of 
Oliver  street  church,  and  become  the  pastor  of  the  First 
church,  New  York.  Many  causes  conspired  to  induce 
this  change.  I  was  not  very  happy  in  Oliver  street, 
and  did  not  find  myself  as  useful  as  I  wished  to  be,  so 
I  had  determined  in  my  own  mind  to  change  my  posi- 
tion when  the  First  Church  gave  me  an  unanimous  call, 
and  offered  to  build  in  the  centre  of  the  city  such  a 
house  as  I  pleased,  with  offices  for  Bible  and  Mission 
societies,  rent  free,  &c.  In  all  which  I  have  recognized 
the  finger  of  Divine  Providence,  and  have  entered  upon 
my  new  sphere  of  labor  with  confidence  and  comfort, 
and  believe  it  will  result  in  the  advancement  of  the  cause 
in  New  York  more  than  anything  which  has  been 
attempted  there  by  any  of  the  churches,  in  the  way  of 
benevolent  enterprise,  for  many  years.  Let  me  not  want 
your  prayers,  for  I  feel  that  1  have  undertaken  a  great 
work,  which  cannot  be  successfully  prosecuted  without 
help  from  above.  '  Help,  Lord. !  for  vain  is  the  help  of 
man.' 

"J  have  read  your  tract  upon  John  iii.  5,  with  much 
interest,  but  still  think  the  allusion  is  to  baptism.  '  To 
be  born  of  water '  is  a  figure,  exhibiting  water  as  the 
womb  out  of  which  the  individual  is  bom  ;  and  teaching 
"  the  washing  of  the  believer  in  the  blood  of  Christ.'  I 
do  not  see  at  all  the  dilemma  that  '  Baptism,  must  on  this 
interpretation,  be  essential  to  salvation."  Baptism  is  not 
mentioned  here — it  is  only  alluded  to  as  furnishing  a 
a  figure  of  our  salvation.  To  be  born  of  water  and  spirit 
are  different  things;  the  first  I  suppose  to  mean  'washed 
in  the  blood  of  Christ,'  the  latter  '  renewed  by  the 
Spirit.'  Both  are  necessary  to  our  salvation.  1  Cor.  vi. 
11.     Eph.  v.  46.     1  Pet.  i.  22.     Kev.  i.  5." 

In  a  letter  to  Reverend  J.  "W.  Sarles  he  also  speaks  of 


LIFE    OF    SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE.  257 

the  change  from  Oliver  street  to  the  First  church,  as 
follows : 

"  As  you  say  it  was,  indeed,  strange  that  after  more 
than  eighteen  years'  pastoral  toil  and  continued  mental 
effort  in  Oliver  street,  my  connection  should  be  dis- 
solved, and  the  charge  of  another  church  in  the  same  city 
be  accepted.  But  matters  and  things  have  been  mov- 
ing towards  this  point  for  years,  and  my  peace  of  mind 
became  so  seriously  invaded  as  to  interfere  with  my 
comfort  in  preaching,  and  I  determined,  more  than  twelve 
months  ago,  to  change  my  position,  as  soon  as  the  Lord 
should  open  for  me  a  door  in  Providence  where  I  might 
enter  and  be  useful.  This  He  has  kindly  and  most  man- 
ifestly done,  and  I  have  never  felt  so  much  at  ho?ne 
during  my  residence  in  New  York  as  at  the  present 
time.  The  First  Church,  of  which  I  am  now  pastor,  is 
comparatively  small,  but  sound  in  the  faith,  and  united 
and  harmonious  in  action.  One  strong  inducement  to 
accept  the  oversight  of  them  you  may  see  in  their 
generous  determination  to  bnild  snch  a  honse  in  the  centre 
of  the  city,  as  would  meet  my  views  of  the  wants  of  the 
denomination ;  connected  with  commodious  offices  for 
the  Bible  and  Missionary  operations  in  which  we  are 
engaged,  rent  free.  This  was  an  object  of  great  import- 
ance, and  I  have  reason  to  hope,  through  the  Divine 
blessing  on  my  feeble  instrumentality,  will  be  speedily 
accomplished. 

The  enterprise  in  which  I  thus  find  myself  engaged  at 
56  years  of  age  is  a  bold  one,  and  must  be  attended  with 
much  anxiety,  and  prayer,  and  effort,  before  it  can  be 
conducted  to  a  successful  termination  ;  at  least  so  far  as 
paying  for  the  honse  and  filling  it  with  a  congregation 
of  attentive  hearers  are  concerned  ;  but  if  God  be  for 
us,  it  will  all  be  well,  and  His  name  shall  have  all  the 
glory ;  and  for  this  you  will  not  cease  to  pray  /" 


258 


LIFE   OF    SPENCER   HOUGHTON    CONE. 


»j!S!'-';«  -■•>""  ■•■   m  ..'■  ■     :.<  ;  ;:,;;;inn  (-.1   i, 


. 


i 


LIFE    OF    SPENCER   HOUGHTON    CONE.  259 


CHAPTER  XV. 

THE   FIRST    BAPTIST    CHURCH    IN   THE    CITY    OF   NEW    YORK. 

"New  York,  March  29th,  1841. 

"The  First  Baptist  Church  in  the  city  of  New  York,  to 
our  well-beloved  Brother  in  the  ministry,  Elder  Spencer 
H.  Cone,  sendeth  greeting  : 

"  It  is  known  and  read  of  all  men,  that  the  First  Bap- 
tist Church  in  this  city  has  long  and  earnestly  contended 
for  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints.  Under  the 
ministration  of  our  late  pastor,  we  have  been  indoctrin- 
ated into  the  truth  as  it  is  in  the  Gospel  of  the  grace 
of  God,  and  led  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  as  we  trust,  to 
embrace  and  love  it.  But  after  years  of  great  usefulness 
in  our  midst,  he  has  in  the  providence  of  God  been 
induced  to  leave  us,  and  consequently  we  are  without 
an  under-shepherd. 

"  Since  the  date  of  his  resignation,  earnest,  and  we 
may  say  unceasing,  prayer  has  ascended  to  our  dear 
Master,  that  He  would  kindly  regard  us  in  this  our  time 
of  destitution,  and  (though  with  shame  and  confusion  of 
face  we  have  great  reason  to  mourn  over  our  lukewarm- 
ness  in  the  cause),  we  continue  to  implore  Him,  that  He 
will  not  remove  our  candlestick,  but  that  He  will  send 
us  one*  to  minister  to  us,  whose  labors  He  will  delight  to 
own  and  bless. 

"  But  we  have  so  learned  Christ  that  the  fatness 
of  our  souls  would  wax  lean  were  we  compelled  to  feed 
on  the  husks  of  doctrine  which  are  now-a-days  held  forth 
to   our  guilty   race.      And   we   are    therefore    doubly 


260  LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

anxious  that  the  words  of  faith  and  good,  doctrine, 
whereunto  we  have  attained  by  sovereign  grace,  shall 
ever  be  preached  from  our  de&k  in  the  same  purity  with 
which  we  were  led  to  receive  them.  This  enhances  the 
difficulty  of  selecting  a  suitable  watchman  for  this  wall 
of  Zion,  and  serves  to  make  us  feel  how  completely 
dependent  upon  the  guidance  of  our  Heavenly  Father 
we  are  in  this  matter,  and  yet  we  are  willing,  nay  even 
rejoice  to  submit  our  difficulties  to  Him  who  has  graven 
us  on  the  palms  of  His  hands. 

"  While,  therefore,  we,  as  a  church,  have  devoted 
specific  seasons  of  prayer  for  Divine  direction  in  this 
weighty  matter,  a  committee  of  three  were  appointed  to 
select  and  recommend  a  suitable  person  to  undertake 
the  pastoral  charge  of  the  First  Baptist  Church — a  man 
who  should  have  so  learned  Christ,  that  from  the  heart 
he  might  teach  that  form  of  doctrine  which  the  Holy 
Spirit  has  delivered  unto  us,  and  which  is  set  forth  in 
the  accompanying  summary  of  our  faith.  This  com- 
mittee, after  mature  and  prayerful  deliberations,  have 
unanimously  recommended,  that  the  beloved  elder 
Spencer  H.  Cone  be  invited  to  fulfill  the  duties  of 
that  station.  This  church  has  unanimously  adopted 
their  recommendation,  and  by  a  vote  of  that  body  the 
present  call  was  directed  to  be  made,  »irh  the  hope 
that  our  Lord  will  incline  your  heart  to  accept  our  invi- 
tation, and  come  over  and  help  us. 

"  Our  Heavenly  Father  in  His  wisdom  has  seen  fit 
within  a  few  years  past,  to  allow,  not  only  a  considerable 
diminution  of  our  numbers,  but  also  that  a  heavy  load 
of  pecuniary  obligation  should  rest  upon  us;  yet  with  all 
these  troubles  we  are  a  united  band,  having  but  one  single 
object  in  view;  viz.,  the  declarative  glory  of  our  beloved 
Master.  But  the  church  feels  that  for  the  attainment 
of  that  object,  she  greatly  needs  the  regular  and.  stated 


LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE.  261 

labors  of  one  of  the  imder-shepherds  of  the  Lord  to  go  in 
and  out  before  her  to  minister  to  her  in  holy  tilings. 
For  this  end,  the  eyes  of  the  First  Baptist  Church  are 
fixed  upon  you,  our  beloved  brother,  and  she  stands 
ready  to  welcome  you  with  open  arms  to  the  work. 

"The  services  she  seeks  from  you,  are  ministrations  in 
the  public  sanctuary  twice  every  Lord's  day,  and  on  two 
evenings  in  every  week,  as  well  as  the  performance 
of  those  other  pastoral  duties  which  the  faithful  over- 
sight of  the  flock  may  require  at  your  hands.  And  as 
we  deem  that  he  who  preaches  the  Gospel  should  live 
of  the  Gospel,  the  church  will  endeavor  to  relieve  your 
mind  of  all  your  pecuniary  troubles  by  the  payment  of 
twenty-five  hundred  dollars  per  annum.  We  would 
also  have  it  mutually  understood,  that  unless  death  or 
some  other  severe  stroke  of  Providence  intervene, 
the  connection  which  this  church  wishes  to  establish 
between  yourself  and  her,  shall  cease  only,  when  either 
yourself  or  the  church  shall  have  given  six  months' 
notice  of  a  desire  to  dissolve  such  connection. 

"  With  a  sincere  deelre,  and  earnest  prayer  that  God 
will  direct  your  mind  to  a  favorable  reception  of  this 
our  Call,  we  remain, 

"  Tours  in  the  patience  of  the  kingdom. 
"  By  order  and  in  behalf  of  the  church, 

"  Sylvester  Pier,  Ch.  Clerk? 


"New  York,  April  21st,  1841. 

"  Dear  Brethren  in  the  Lord  :  Your  communica- 
tion of  March  22d,  1841,  was  duly  received.  I  have 
perused  it  with  care,  and  endeavored  to  spread  it  before 
the  throne  of  «race  for  Divine  direction. 

"  You  have  called  me  to  the  exercise  of  the  pastoral 
office  by  a  unanimous  vott      T'his  is  truly  gratifying  to 


262  LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

my  feelings,  and,  indeed,  without  snch  an  expression  of 
an  entire  cordiality,  I  could  not  have  entertained  your  call. 

"  Your  printed  epitome  of  Scripture  doctrines,  the 
order  of  a  gospel  church,  together  with  the  duties  and 
privileges  of  it  members,  I  have  been  intimately 
acquainted  with  for  years,  and  it  gives  me  pleasure  here 
to  record  my  hearty  approbation  of  them.  To  preach 
them  to  the  people,  faithfully  and  affectionately,  for 
more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century,  has  been  my  untiring 
effort. 

"The  salary  you  propose,  being  the  same  as  that  paid 
by  the  church  in  Oliver  street,  is  sufficient  to  sustain  my 
family  in  a  manner  becoming  the  position  in  society  both 
of  Pastor  and  people,  and  at  the  same  time  allow  me  to 
make  occasional  contributions  to  the  cause  of  benevolence, 
as  obvious  claims  may  demand.  But  money  forms  no  part 
of  my  motive  to  action.  I  hope  to  live  among  those  who 
will  ever  sympathize  with  me  in  sorrow  or  in  joy;  who 
will  never  look  upon  my  trials,  whatever  they  may  be, 
with  frigid  indifference  ;  and  who  will  cheerfully  co-op- 
erate with  me  in  promoting  the  interests  of  Messiah's 
Kingdom. 

"  Preaching  twice  on  the  Lord's-day,  and  once  or 
twice  on  week  evenings,  is  as  much  as  I  deem  profitable 
to  those  who  wish  to  mark,  learn,  and  inwardly  digest 
what  they  hear,  and  quite  as  much  as  my  physical  and 
mental  energies  should  statedly  encounter,  in  connection 
with  other  indispensable  pastoral  duties,  and  such  episto- 
lary, Missionary,  and  Bible  labors,  as  must  of  necessity 
be  performed. 

"  And  now,  brethren  and  sisters  in  Christ  Jesus,  the 
great,  the  single  question  has  been,  "  Lord,  what  wilt 
thou  have  me  to  do?'  I  have  thought  upon  the  church 
and  congregation  in  Oliver  street,  to  whom  I  have 
preached  for  eighteen  years,  and  have  no  reason  to 


LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   COXE.  263 

expect  ever  to  minister  to  a  larger.  Increase  of  emolu- 
ment, diminution  of  responsibility,  or  decrease  of  avo- 
cation— I  do  not  desire  ;  they  have  not  weighed  a  fea- 
ther in  the  balance:  yet  after  giving  this  momentous 
question  all  the  consideration  of  which  I  am  capable,  the 
path  of  duty,  which  I  know  to  be  the  only  path  of  true 
happiness,  usefulness,  and  safety,  seems  to  be  made  plain, 
and  I  am  induced  unreservedly  and  heartily  to  accept 
your  call,  and  become,  if  the  Lord  will,  the  pastor  of  the 
First  Baptist  Church  in  the  city  of  New  York. 

"  It  is  not  necessary  to  recapitulate  the  considerations 
through  the  combined  influence  of  which  my  mind  has 
been  conducted  to  this  result.  They  may  be  summed 
up  in  one  sentence.  I  hope  by  this  step,  with  the  bless- 
ing of  Almighty  God  upon  our  united  efforts,  to  extend 
and  more  permanently  establish,  in  this  great  and  wicked 
city,  the  doctrines  and  ordinances  of  the  Lord:  and  to 
do  this,  Ave  must  build  such  a  house  as  the  circumstances 
of  the  Baptist  denomination  imperiously  require;  and 
give,  and  labor,  and  pray,  until  it  shall  be  tilled  with 
spiritual  worshippers.  This  is  the  noble  enterprise 
which  has  secured  my  unqualified  approbation,  and  the 
desire  and  hope  of  accomplishing  it,  in  the  name  and  in 
the  strength  of  the  Lord,  have  made  me  willing  to  leave 
those  who  have  had  the  unabated  vigor  of  my  manhood 
to  spend  my  last  days  with  you.  God  grant  that  these 
last  days  may  be  my  best  days  for  your  sake,  and  for 
His  dear  Son's  sake. 

"It  will  be  agreeable  to  the  deacons  and  trustees  of 
Oliver  street  church,  as  I  learn  from  their  sub-committee, 
that  my  resignation  of  the  pastoral  charge  of  the  church 
should  take  effect  from  the  last  of  June.  If  this  arrange- 
ment meets  the  approbation  of  the  church,  you  may 
expect  me  to  take  charge  of  your  pulpit  the  first 
LordVday  of  July  next,  and  in  the  meantime  I  shall  be 


264  LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON"   CONE. 

ready  to  aid  your  committee  in  procuring  occasional 
supplies. 

"  The  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  be  with  you  all. 
"  In  Gospel  bonds,  your  affectionate  brother, 

"Spencer  II.  Cone." 


"On  the  first  of  July,  1841,  By  the  unanimous  vote 
of  the  First  Baptist  Church  in  the  city  of  New  York,  he 
took  the  oversight  of  that  flock,  which,  from  peculiar 
circumstances  in  its  history,  had  been  greatly  reduced 
in  numbers  and  influence.  It  has  since  been  raised  to  a 
degree  of  prosperity  and  usefulness  enjoyed  by  few 
churches  even  in  this  favored  land.'' — New  York  Chron- 
icle, 1850. 

A   large  number  of  his  attached  friends  in  Oliver 

street  followed  him  to  his  new  scene  of  labor,  and  the 

large  and  beautiful  meeting-house  in   Broome   street, 

built  in  the  style  called  the  Collegiate  Gothic,  hardly 

sufficed  to  hold  the  crowds  which  continued  to  hang 

upon  his  lips.     It  was  a  surprising  thing  to  see  such 

numbers   of    strangers   always    flocking   to   where   he 

preached;  for  he  indulged  in  no  fine  flights  of  fancy,  or 

florid  elegances  of  style.     Nor  did   he  mince  matters 

witli  them.     He  preached  to  sinners,  and  the  Cross  of 

Christ  was  never  forgotten.     He   preached   the   whole 

Gospel  to  them,  with  little  care  how  much  the  fine  skin 

of  human  vanity  might  be  ruffled  by  it.     Anthony,  a 

very  old  colored  member  of  Oliver  street  church,  and 

time  out  of  mind  its  sexton,  used  to  get  very  tired  of 

bringing  the  benches  up  out  of  the  lecture-room  to  put 

in   the    aisles   in    Oliver   street   for    the   people    to    sit 

on  when  the  pews  were  all  packed,  and  go  up  and  down 

the   stairs  grumbling:     "I  wish   Brother  Cone  would 

preach  in  the  Park;  then,  may-be,  the  people  get  'commo- 


LIFE   OF   BPENCEE   HOUGHTON   CONE.  265 

dated."    It  was  the  same  thing  to  the  Inst.    His  preach- 
ing never  seemed  to  pall  upon  the  public  ear. 

The  ensuing  sketch  of  the  history  of  the  First  Church, 
New  York,  was  prepared  by  him  for  the  New  York 
Chronicle,  in  1850.  It  seems  proper  to  preserve  it  here, 
as  that  church  was  publicly  and  closely  connected  with 
some  of  the  most  important  events  of  his  life. 

The  first  Baptist  preaching  in  the  city  of  New  York  of  which  we  have 
any  account,  was  by  one  Wm.Wickenden,  of  R.  I.,  sometime  previous  to 
the  year  1(JC9:  the  results  of  which  are  not  particularly  known,  except 
that  Mr.  W.  was  imprisoned  several  months  for  presuming  to  preach 
■without  a  license  from  an  officer  of  the  crown.  In  1712,  Mr.  Valentine 
Wightman  came  to  the  city  from  Groton,  Connecticut,  and  preached  with 
considerable  success.  In  17 "24,  a  church  of  twelve  was  organized,  and 
Mr.  Eyres  became  pastor.  They  purchased  lots  and  built  a  house  of 
worship  in  Gold  street.  But  after  about  eight  years'  existence,  the  church, 
consisting  then  of  twenty-four  members,  being  left  without  a  pastor, 
under  great  pecuniary  difficulties,  was  disbanded.  Mr.  Eyres  and  his 
associates  are  reputed  to  have  been  Arminians  in  doctrine.  The  church, 
known  as  the  First  Baptist  Church  in  the  city  of  New  York,  originated  in 
1745,  when  Jeremiah  Dodge,  a  member  of  the  Fishkill  Baptist  Church, 
settled  here,  and  opened  his  house  for  public  worship.  Elder  Benjamin 
Miller,  of  New  Jersey,  preached  here  in  that  year,  and  baptized  Joseph 
Meeks,  who  continued  to  be  a  valuable  member  of  the  First  Church,  until 
the  6th  of  October,  1782,  when  he  died,  aged  73  years.  Robert  North 
and  a  few  Others  who  had  belonged  to  the  Arminian  Church,  having 
learned  the  way  of  the  Lord  more  perfectly,  nowr  united  with  brethren 
Dodge  and  Meeks  to  sustain  the  Baptist  cause.  Mr.  John  Pine,  a  licen- 
tiate of  the  Fishkill  Church,  preached  for  them  till  1750,  when  he  died. 
In  1747,  the  Scotchplains  Church,  New  Jersey,  was  organized,  and  called 
elder  Benjamin  Miller  to  the  pastoral  office,  and  as  there  were  but 
thirteen  brethren  and  sisters  in  the  city  who  agreed  in  their  views  of 
doctrine,  it  was  deemed  advisable  to  unite  with  that  church  in  1753, 
with  the  understanding  that  Brother  Miller  should  preach  in  New  York 
occasionally,  and  administer  the  Lord's  Supper  to  them  once  in  three 
months.  His  preaching  was  so  acceptable,  that  those  who  wished  to  hear 
him  could  not  be  accommodated  in  a  private  dwelling ;  the  church, 
therefore,  hired  a  rigging-loft,  in  Cart  and  Horse  street,  now  William 
street,  where  they  statedly  assembled  lor  public  worship  for  several  years. 

As  their  numbers  and  resources  increased,  they  purchased  ground  in 
Gold  street,  and  erected  a  small  meeting-house  which  was  opened  on  the 

12 


266  LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

14th  March,  1760.  In  that  year  Brother  John  Gano,  formerly  pastor  of 
Morristown  Church,  New  Jersey,  preached  for  them  several  times  with 
great  acceptance,  and  received  a  unanimous  call  to  settle  with  them. 
He  replied,  that  he  must  finish  his  engagement  with  the  First  Church, 
Philadelphia,  where  he  was  then  preaching ;  and  must  spend  three  months 
afterwards  with  the  Yadkin  Baptist  Church,  North  Carolina,  whence  he 
had  been  driven  by  the  outrages  of  the  Cherokee  Indians,  in  1759,  and 
then  he  would  be  at  liberty  to  accept  their  call.  To  this  the  church 
agreed,  and  continued  to  depend  upon  visiting  brethren,  to  lead  in  public 
worship,  until  June  19th,  1762,  when  twenty-seven  members  from  Scotch- 
plains,  having  previously  received  letters  of  dismission,  were  publicly 
recognized  as  an  independent  Gospel  Church.  Brethren  Miller  and  Gano, 
conducted  the  religious  exercises  upon  this  interesting  occasion  ;  the  lat- 
ter was  received  into  the  fellowship  of  the  church  the  same  day,  upon  the 
credit  of  his  letter  of  dismission  from  the  Yadkin  Church,  and  entered 
immediately  upon  his  pastoral  charge. 

Many  flocked  together  to  hear  him  preach  Christ  crucified  ;  in  two  or 
three  years  the  number  of  members  exceeded  two  hundred ;  the  meeting- 
house was  considerably  enlarged,  so  as  to  measure  fifty-two  feet  by  forty- 
two,  and  was  then  too  small  for  the  congregation. 

But  the  peace  of  the  church  was  occasionally  disturbed.  Three  minis- 
ters from  England,  at  different  times,  endeavored  to  divide  the  church  ; 
they  were  Murray,  Dawson,  and  Allen  ;  the  last  of  whom,  especially,  caused 
them  sore  trouble.  Brother  Gano  wrote  to  England,  "and  obtained 
such  an  account  of  the  man  and  his  character  at  home,"  as  destroyed  his 
influence  in  New  York,  and  he,  soon  after,  removed  from  the  city.  The 
next  difficulty,  worthy  of  note,  originated  in  a  vote  of  the  church  to  sing 
from  hymn  books,  instead  of  giving  out  the  lines,  as  had  previously  been 
the  custom.  This  change  gave  so  much  offence,  that  fourteen  took 
letters  of  dismission,  and  formed  the  Second  Baptist  Church,  New  York. 
The  church,  however,  continued  to  increase  in  numbers  and  influence 
until  the  war  of  the  Revolution,  during  which  period,  the  members  were 
everywhere  scattered  abroad.  The  ordinance  of  baptism  was  adminis- 
tered by  the  pastor,  April  28th,  1776,  and  not  again  until  September  4th, 
1784. 

John  Gano  was  a  firm  patriot  and  a  brave  man.  In  the  struggle  for 
national  existence  and  the  establishment  of  civil  and  religious  freedom, 
he  could  not  but  take  an  active  part.  He  removed  his  family  to  Con- 
necticut, but  determined  to  remain  in  the  city  himself,  until  the  enemy 
entered  it.  He  was  invited  to  become  chaplain  of  the  regiment  com- 
manded by  Colonel  Charles  Webbv  of  Stamford,  but  declined  the  appoint- 
ment. He,  nevertheless,  so  far  complied,  as  to  visit  the  regiment  every 
morning,  and  preach  for  them  every  Lord's  day.  Brother  Gano  continued 
with  Colonel  Webb's  regiment  until  the  period  expired  for  which  the 


LIKE    JF    SPENCER   HOUGHTON    CONE.  267 

men  had  enlisted,  and  they  returned  to  their  homes.  He  took  this 
opportunity  to  visit  his  family,  where  he  found  a  letter  awaiting  him 
from  Colonel  Dubosques,  then  stationed  at  Fort  Montgomery,  on  the 
North  River,  lie  immediately  set  out  for  the  Colonel's  quarters,  and  at 
the  earnest  solieitation  of  General  James  Clinton,  with  whom  he  there 
met,  he  accepted  an  appointment  as  chaplain,  and  continued  in  the 
service  until  the  close  of  the  war. 

After  the  British  evacuated  New  York,  he  returned  to  the  city,  and 
collected  together  "  about  thirty-seven  members  of  the  church  out  of 
above  two  hundred."  The  meeting-house,  which  was  much  disfigured, 
having  been  used  as  a  store-house  and  stable  for  horses,  was  repaired ; 
public  worship  was  resumed ;  "  the  Lord  looked  graciously  upon  His 
people,  the  congregation  was  large  and  attentive,  and  many  were  bro'  ght 
to  bow  the  knee  to  King  Jesus!"  In  two  years  the  church  .<,ain 
numbered  more  than  two  hundred  members. 

In  1787  a  proposition  was  made  to  Brother  Gano  to  remove  to 
Kentucky,  with  the  prospect  of  increasing  his  usefulness,  and  relieving 
himself  from  pecuniary  embarrassments.  He  called  a  church  meeting 
and  laid  before  them  the  facts  in  the  case  ;  but  he  says,  "  they  treated  it 
all  as  a  chimera,  and  with  all  possible  coolness  left  him  to  determine  for 
himself."  He  immediately  determined  to  go.  As  soon  as  his  intention 
was  made  known,  "  the  Church  offered  to  raise  his  salary,  and  very 
affectionately  urged  him  to  tarry."  He  would  gladly  have  complied  with 
their  wishes,  but  it  was  too  late ;  he  had  entered  into  engagements  widen 
could  not  be  broken.  He  continued  to  preach  for  the  church  until  the 
4th  of  May,  1788;  in  the  afternoon  of  that  day,  he  administered  the 
Lord's  Supper,  and  in  the  evening  took  his  final  leave  of  them  in  a  very 
affecting  discourse  from  Acts  xv.  29  :     "  Fare  ye  well  .'" 

Brother  Gano  arrived  safely  at  Limestone,  Ky.,  June  17th,  1788  ;  he 
preached  in  various  parts  of  the  State,  principally  at  Frankfort,  and  for 
the  Town  Fork  church,  and  finished  his  course,  August  10th,  1804,  in 
the  78th  year  of  his  age.  The  last  sentiment  he  uttered,  in  the  midst  of 
his  weeping  family  and  friends,  was  his  desire  to  depart  and  be  with 
Jesus. 

The  First  Church,  New  York,  has  great  cause  of  gratitude  to  the  God 
of  all  grace,  for  giving  them  John  Gano,  as  their  first  pastor.  His 
ministry  was  owned  and  blessed  to  the  permanent  establishment  of  our 
cause  in  tins  great  commercial  emporium  ;  where,  for  more  than  twenty- 
six  years,  this  John  the  Baptist  was  a  burning  and  a  shining  light. 

After  the  departure  of  Brother  Gano,  the  pulpit  was  supplied  by  dif- 
ferent ministers.  Among  these  was  Benjamin  Foster,  D.  D.  of  Newport, 
Rhode  Island,  with  whose  preaching,  department  and  character  tha 
church  was  so  much  pleased,  that,  after  due  deliberation  and  prayer,  they 
called  him  to  take  the  oversight  of  the  flock  as  pastor.     This  call  ho 


2G8  LIFE   OF    SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

accepted,  and  removed  to  the  city  with  his  family,  September  20th,  1*788, 
.nit  having  been  inoculated  with  the  small  pox,  he  was  prevented  from 
entering  upon  the  duties  of  his  oflice  until  the  2d  of  December  following. 
His  ministry  was  very  soon  interrupted  by  the  complaints  of  several 
members,  who  charged  him  with  preaching  what  was  called  "  New 
Divinity;"  the  fundamental  error  of  which  was  understood  to  be,  an 
indefinite  atonement ;  and  this  led  to  an  unscriptural  "exhibition  of  the 
doctrine  of  imputation.  The  charge,  however,  was  not  sustained  by 
the  church,  and  from  such  of  his  writings  as  are  extant,  as  well  as  from 
the  high  estimation  in  which  he  was  held  by  the  sound  divines  of  his  day, 
it  appears  not  to  have  been  well  founded.  But  the  fire  of  contention 
burned  more  and  more  fiercely,  until  January  27th,  1789,  when  eight 
males  and  five  females  were  excluded  "  for  their  self-sufficiency,  their 
scandalous  treatment  of  the  character  of  their  minister,  and  their  turning 
their  backs  upon  the  church  in  a  contemptuous  manner."  Thesis 
excluded  persons  were  received  into  the  fellowship  of  the  Second  Church  ; 
and  this  being  contrary  to  our  discipline,  all  intercourse  between  the 
two  churches  was  suspended.  The  Second  Church,  sent  no  messenger  to 
the  Philadelphia  Association  that  year,  but  in  October,  1780,  they 
attempted  to  justify  their  course,  in  their  annual  letter  to  the  venerable 
body  then  in  session  in  this  city,  by  charging  the  First  Church  with 
having  departed  from  the  truth  both  in  faith  and  discipline."  The 
association  appointed  a  committee  of  eight,  of  whom  Dr.  Samuel  Jones, 
of  Pennsylvania,  was  chairman,  and  Dr.  Manning,  President  of  Brown 
University,  Rhode  Island,  was  a  member,  for  the  purpose  of  reconciling 
the  churches,  "  and  preventing,  if  possible,  all  further  disputes  and 
animosities."  The  committee  promptly  attended  to  the  duty  assigned 
them,  and  finally  submitted  the  following  propositions: 

1.  That  the  Second  Church  do  cordially  withdraw  its  cnarge  against 
the  First  Church  and  its  pastor. 

2.  That  the  First  Church  will  henceforward  consider  those  members 
lately  received  by  the  Second  Church  from  the  First,  as  in  good  and 
regular  standing. 

3.  That  the  members  in  each  church  in  regular  standing,  shall  enjoy 
occasional  communion  if  required,  in  either  church,  and  shall  have  the 
privilege  of  reciprocal  dismissing,  if  requested  by  any. 

4.  That  both  parties  do  fully,  freely,  and  cordially,  promise  not  to  use 
any  expulsions,  or  other  unkind  treatment  towards  each  other,  and  that  a 
failure  herein  shall  be  a  matter  of  discipline. 

5.  That  each  church  shall  enter  the  above  in  their  church  records,  and 
transmit  authenticated  copies  of  their  doings  reciprocally  to  each  other. 

At  the  regular  church  meeting,  November  2d,  1790,  these  propositions 
were  agreed  to,  and  Dr.  Foster  and  Deacon  John  Bedient  were  appointed 


LIFE   OF   BPENCEE   HOUGHTON   CONE.  269 

a  committee  to  wait  u;  on  the  Second  church  with  a  copy  of  their  doings. 
At  this  time  the  First  Church  numbered  192  members. 

The  First  Church  continued  to  grow,  and  having  dismissed,  at  various 
times,  some  thirty  or  forty  restless  and  dissatisfied  members,  enjoyed  a 
large  share  of  peace  and  prosperity.  Dr.  Foster  was  much  respected  in 
the  city,  as  a  scholar,  a  preacher,  and  an  exemplary  Christian.  In  the  mys- 
terious Providence  of  God  he  was,  however,  suddenly  cut  off  by  yellow 
fever  on  Lord's-day  morning,  August  26th,  1*798,  in  the  forty-eighth  year 
of  his  age,  having  been  pastor  of  the  church  nearly  ten  years. 

The  pulpit  was  again  occupied  by  such  occasional  supplies  as  could  be 
procured,  until  the  14th  of  October,  1800,  when  Reverend  William  Col- 
lier, of  Boston,  who  had  previously  preached  for  the  church  some  months, 
commenced  his  pastoral  labors  in  accordance  with  their  call.  Soon  after 
his  settlement,  the  church  and  congregation  resolved  to  pull  down  the 
old  meeting-house,  and  erect  a  more  commodious  and  substantial  one  in 
its  place.  The  old  house  was  removed  in  March,  1801,  and  a  stone  edifice, 
65  feet  by  80,  at  a  cost  of  about  $25,000,  was  opened  for  public  worship  on 
Lord's-day,  May  2d,  1S02.  The  sermon  on  the  occasion  was  preached  by 
Dr.  Stephen  Gano,  of  Providence,  from  Exodus,  xx.  24:  "In  all  places 
where  I  record  my  name,  I  will  come  unto  thee,  and  I  will  bless  thee." 
In  two  or  three  years  Brother  Collier  found  his  strength  unequal  to  the 
duties  of  his  station,  and  the  church  called  Brother  Jeremiah  Chaplin,  of 
Danvers,  Massachusetts,  as  a  co-pastor.  He  arrived  in  New  York,  Janu- 
ary loth,  1804,  but  Brother  Collier  had  previously  received  and  accepted 
a  call  from  the  Charlestown  Baptist  church ;  he  tarried,  however,  until 
Lord's-day,  April  8th,  1804,  when  he  preached  his  farewell  sermon  from 
Acts  sx.  32.  "  And  now,  brethren,  I  commend  you  to  God,  and  to  the 
Word  of  His  grace. 

On  the  6th  of  November,  1804,  the  church,  after  much  prayerful  delibe- 
ration, agreed  to  send  for  Rev.  William  Parkinson,  of  Fredericktown,  Mary- 
land, to  spend  a  few  months  with  them,  with  a  view  to  settlement  as  pas- 
tor, should  it  appear  to  be  desirable  and  proper.  As  he  had  preached  for 
them  several  times  in  1802,  they  were  somewhat  acquainted  wim  his 
ministerial  gifts,  and  were  not  ignorant  of  his  views  of  doctrine.  He 
complied  with  the  invitation  of  the  church,  and  arrived  in  the  city  on  the 
20th  of  De-cember.  Having  preached  six  weeks,  a  call  to  take  the  pasto- 
ral charge  of  them  was  presented,  February  8th,  1805  ;  this  call  he 
accepted  on  the  14th  of  April  following.  Brother  Parkinson's  preaching 
attracted  large  congregations,  and  the  Word  of  truth  was  owned  and 
blessed  of  God  to  the  conversion  and  edificat'on  of  many  precious  souls. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  New  York  association,  in  1805,  the  church 
reported  253  members,  in  1SO0,  they  numbered  564.  For  four  or  five 
years,  a  time  of  refreshing  was  experienced  from  the  presence  of  the 
Lord,  and  the  baptismal  waters  were  visited  almost  every  month,  during 


270  LIFE   OF    SrENCER   HOUGHTON    CONE. 

that  most  interesting  and  prosperous  period.  The  enemy,  however,  had 
been  busily  engaged  in  sowing  tares,  and  cases  of  discipline,  exclusions, 
frequent  church  meetings  to  try  delinquents,  and  strenuous  efforts  to 
reconcile  differences  and  heal  breaches  were  the  result. 

On  the  26th  of  March,  1811,  brethren  Greenleaf  S.  Webb,  and  Jacob 
H.  Brouner,  with  twenty-four  other  brethren  and  sisters,  obtained  letters 
of  dismission,  and  united  together  as  an  independent  body,  under  the 
name  of  the  Zoar  Baptist  Church. 

The  troubles  in  the  church  caused  many  to  leave  her,  and  to  seek 
peace  and  Christian  fellowship  elsewhere.  These  troubles  arose  princi- 
pally,  at  this  time,  from  the  accusations  brought  against  the  pastor. 
Some  future  historian  may  choose  to  investigate  the  subject ;  it  is  suffi- 
cient now  to  say,  that  the  church  insisted  upon  the  right  of  disciplining 
her  own  members,  although  four  sister  churches  have  declared,  in  their 
letters  to  the  association,  "  their  non-fellowship  with  the  First  Church,  on 
account  of  their  proceedings  relative  to  the  pastor."  A  letter  was 
addressed  to  the  New  York  association,  and  is  recorded  in  their  minutes  of 
May  21st,  1812,  expressing  their  views  of  church  independence,  and  their 
reasons  for  not  submitting  the  case  of  discipline  in  question,  to  the  inves- 
tigation and  decision  of  that  body.  The  question  was  decided  by  a  vote 
of  the  churches,  fifteen  sustaining  the  views  of  the  First  Church,  and  six 
against  them  ;  "  whereupon  the  following  churches,  viz.,  Fayette  street, 
Mulberry  street,  Poughkeepsie,  and  Mount  Pleasant,  being  dissatisfied 
therewith,  requested  their  dismission,  which  on  motion  was  granted." 

After  various  seasons  of  prosperity  and  adversity,  of  joy  and  sorrow, 
Brother  Parkinson  resigned  his  pastoral  charge  August  11th,  1840,  having 
held  it  more  than  thirty-five  years.  Between  seventy  and  eighty  mem. 
bers  took  letters  of  dismission,  within  a  few  months  after,  and  most  of 
them  united  in  the  constitution  of  the  Bethesda  Baptist  church,  choosing 
Brother  Parkinson  for  their  pastor. 

The  First  church  was  now  greatly  reduced  in  numbers,  having  but 
about  two  hundred  members  residing  in  the  city ;  their  debt  had  been 
increasing  for  years,  and  the  sale  of  their  property  would  do  little  more 
than  liquidate  it ;  their  meeting-house  was  ineligibly  situated,  and  the 
congregation  had  moved  away  from  it ;  and  whether  it  would  be  better 
for  them  to  struggle  on  and  maintain  their  visibility,  or  not,  became  a 
grave  and  perplexing  question.  Occasional  supplies  were  obtained  for 
the  pulpit ;  for  several  months  Brother  Benjamin  M.  Hill,  corresponding 
Secretary  of  the  American  Baptist  Home  Missionary  Society,  preached  for 
them  statedly  ;  and  the  church  resorted  to  prayer — frequent,  fervent,  and 
importunate  prayer  for  the  Divine  guidance  and  blessing.  Those  who  were 
present  at  these  special  prayer  meetings,  still  speak  of  them  as  among 
the  most  precious  seasons  vouchsafed  to  them  on  earth. 

The  pastor  of  the  Oliver  street  church  at  that  time,  had  announced  his 


LIFE   OF   SFENCFR    HOUGHTON   CONE.  271 

intention  to  resign  the  charge  of  that  body,  at  the  end  of  two,  four,  or 
Bix  months,  as  the  church  might  prefer;  expecting  to  remove  from  the 
city.  !!<■  was  not  aware  of  what  had  been  passing  in  the  First  Church, 
nor  had  the  thought  of  becoming  their  pastor  ever  crossed  his  mind. 
Dr.  Thomas  T.  Devan,  an  intimate  friend,  now  called  and  spread  before 
him  the  situation  of  the  First  Church  ;  their  embarrassments,  and  their 
determination  to  make  a  mighty  effort  to  sustain  themselves;  he  stated, 
furthermore,  that  they  could  not  unite  in  a  call  to  any  other  minister,  as 
far  as  he  could  see.  Similar  conversations  were  held  with  the  pulpit 
committee,  and  other  influential  members  of  the  church,  and  resulted  in 
nsenting  to  entertain  a  call  to  the  pastoral  charge  of  the  First 
Church,  on  condition  "that  the  call  should  be  icnanimous  ;  that  he  should 
lie  expected  to  preach  but  twice  on  the  Lord's  Day — morning  and  after- 
noon; and  that  the  church  should  erect  such  a  building  on  the  Broome 
street  lots  as  would  accommodate  our  Bible  and  Missionary  societies,  at  a 
merely  nominal  cost ;  besides  suicide  accommodations  for  the  church  and 
congregation."  These  conditions  the  church  cordially  approved,  and 
their  call  was  dated  March  29th,  1841.  After  a  month's  deliberation  and 
prayer — the  hand  of  the  Lord  appearing  to  be  evidently  in  this  thing — 
the  call  was  accepted,  and  the  present  pastor  assumed  the  arduous  duties 
and  responsibilities  of  his  station  July  1st,  1811,  having  preached  for 
the  Oliver  street  church  eighteen  years  and  two  months. 

The  building  we  now  occupy  was  opened  for  public  worship,  February 
20th,  1842;  Sermon  by  the  pastor  from  Psalm  xx.  5:  "In  the  name  of 
our  God  we  will  set  up  our  banners." 

The  entire  edifice  measures  75  feet  wide  by  110  on  the  East  side,  87 
on  Broome  street,  and  90  on  Elizabeth  street;  the  auditory  nearly  75 
feet  square ;  the  remainder  of  the  building,  fronting  on  Broome  street,  is 
occupied  by  the  American  and  Foreign  Bible  Society,  and  the  American 
Home  Mission  Society,  at  an  annual  rent  of  one  dollar  per  annum.  The 
whole  cost  of  lots  and  house,  including  interest,  paid  before  the  house 
was  finished,  and  the  expense  of  a  lawsuit  since,  to  defend  our  title,  falls 
but  little  short  of  seventy-five  thousand  dollars.  The  lots  on  Gold  street 
were  sold  for  thirty-three  thousand  dollars,  which  has  enabled  the  church 
to  remove  the  burden  of  their  debt,  retaining  the  burying-ground,  con- 
sisting of  seven  lots  on  Houston  street,  without  encumbrance. 

What  bath  God  wrought!  did  Israel  say, 
When  Jordan  rolled  its  tide  away. 
What  hath  God  wrought!  the  church  should  say, 
Since  God  hath  rolled  her  debt  away. 

For  seven  years  past  the  church  has  enjoyed  uninterrupted  prosperity; 
the  attendance  upon  the  ministry  of  the  Word  is  uniformly  large ;  the 


272  LIFE   OF    SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

number  of  mcnbers  reported  to  the  association,  May,  1848,  was  602; 
being  the  largest  number  of  which  she  was  ever  composed,  and  they  are 
happily  united  in  doctrine,  in  brotherly  kindness,  and  in  benevolent 
effort — and  according  to  this  time,  with  grateful  hearts  we  would  say — 
What  hath  God  wrought  I 


1.  For  more  than  a  century  this  body  has  met  all  its  pecuniary 
liabilities,  without  ever  sending  their  pastors  to  solicit  aid  from  other 
churches. 

2.  The  church  has  never  received  an  excommunicated  member  from  a 
sister  church,  and  extraordinary  circumstances  alone  can  ever  justify  a 
departure  from  this  course. 

3.  She  has  uniformly  and  steadfastly  maintained  the  doctrine  of 
church  independence — a  doctrine  dear  to  the  hearts  of  American 
Baptists. 

4.  She  has  "  earnestly  contended  for  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the 
saints,"  and  to  the  attachment  of  her  members  to  the  doctrines  of 
sovereign  and  all-concpiering  grace,  must  be  ascribed,  under  God,  her 
visibility  until  the  present  day.  To  the  truth  contained  in  her  Confession 
of  Faith  she  t- till  inviolably  adheres. 

5.  From  this  church  have  sprung  the  Second,  or  Bethel,  Zoar, 
Abyssinian,  Peekskill,  North,  Stamford  and  Bethesda  churches,  besides 
others  principally  formed  out  of  members  who  had  belonged  to  her. 
Ministers  sent  out  by  her  are,  Thomas  Ustic,  Ebenezer  Ferris,  Isaac 
Skillman,  Stephen  Gano,  Thomas  Montayne,  Cornelius  P.  Wyckoff,  James 
Bruce,  John  Seger,  Simeon  J.  Drake,  William  Rollinson,  Henry  C.  Fish, 
Solomon  S.  Relyea,  and  Thomas  T.  Devan,  missionary  in  Fans,  France. 

6.  A  large  portion  of  the  heart-rending  trials  of  the  church,  especially 
in  the  former  part  of  her  history,  arose  from  evil  speaking,  backbiting, 
and  the  unblushing  violation  of  the  Saviour's  command :  //'  thy  brother 
offend,  d'c.  "Behold  how  great  a  matter,  a  little  fire  kindleth  ;  the  to  t°  ue 
is  a  fire,  a  world  of  iniquity !" 

Finally,  in  looking  back  upon  the  way  in  which  the  Lord  our  God 
hath  led  us,  we  acknowledge  heartily  that  to  Him  be'ongeth  all  the 
grace  and  all  the  glory — but  to  us  "  confusion  of  faces  as  at  this  day." 
May  the  Lord  preserve  this  church  from  all  the  evils  connected  with  the 
history  of  the  past ;  enabling  her  members  to  cling  to  the  Cross,  and  to 
exemplify  in  their  deportment  the  sanctfying  influence  of  the  Doctrixks 
of  Grace;  may  He  greatly  increase  their  zeal  in  promoting  the  interests 
of  Messiah's  Kingdom  throughout  the  earth  ;  and  may  their  unchanging 
motto  be — According  to  this  time  it  shall  be  said — What  hath  God 
Wrought  !     Amen  and  Amen  ! 


LIFE    OF    BPENCEE   HOUGHTON   CONE.  273 

A  marked  happiness  attended  the  commencement  and 
close  of  Mr.  Cone's  ministerial  career.  Over  those 
periods,  the  most  trying  in  a  preacher's  life,  God  seemed 
to  stretch  the  hand  of  His  power  to  support  and  guide 
him  with  peculiar  tenderness.  He  took  charge  of  the 
church  in  Alexandria,  when  youthful  inexperience, 
added  to  the  fascination  of  his  person,  and  the  charm  of 
his  eloquence,  exposed  him  to  danger  of  every  kind. 
That  church  was  particularly  fitted  to  encourage, 
sustain,  and  guard  him.  They  appreciated  his  personal 
qualities;  believed  as  he  did  ;  walked  unitedly  in  all  the 
doctrines  and  ordinances  of  the  Lord  blameless ;  and 
threw  around  their  young  pastor  a  love  as  careful  of 
his  spiritual  welfare,  as  it  was  anxious  to  secure  his 
temporal  comfort. 

Long-continued  pre-eminence  raised  up  against  him 
many  foes.  The  daring,  and  unqualified  assertion  of  the 
truth,  brought  upon  him  unmerited  obloquy  and 
reproach.  And  then,  when  a  ministry  of  thirty  years 
had  beeu  accomplished  ;  when  the  fire  of  youth  no 
longer  burned ;  when  the  vigor  of  manhood  was  nearly 
spent ;  when  the  almond  tree  began  to  blossom,  and  the 
stealing  hand  of  time  was  slowly  taking  away  all  the 
props  and  pride  of  human  strength,  the  same  kind  Mas- 
ter brought  him  to  the  First  Baptist  Church  in  the  city 
of  Xew  York — a  church  so  like  his  first  charge,  that  he 
seemed  to  have  gone  back  again  to  the  days  of  his 
youth,  and  in  the  delightful  associations  with  which 
they  surrounded  him  "  renewed  his  strength  like  the 
eagles." 

With  this  beloved  church  he  continued  to  labor 
happily  and  successfully  to  the  end.  Their  hearts  were 
one,  and  the  love  of  pastor  and  people  for  each  other 
tender  and  unvaried.  A  little  knot  of  evil-minded 
persons,  among  whom  were  some  of  the  trustees,  who 

12* 


27tt  LIFE   OF   SPENCE3   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

were  not  members  of  the  church,  opposed  him  and  his 
principles,  but  the  church  put  them  away  from  her  as 
troublers  of  Zion,  and  folded  their  pastor  to  their  hearts 
with  a  warmer  and  more  determined  affection.  In 
truth,  pastor  and  people  were  fitted  to  each  other  by 
a  nicer  than  human  cunning.  God  touched  their  hearts 
together,  with  the  coals  from  off  His  altar,  and  kindled 
between  them  an  equal  flame  of  ardor  in  His  service, 
and  loving  confidence  in  each  other.  Their  pastor 
loved  them  with  all  the  generous  warmth  and  strong 
passion  of  his  nature  ;  and  they  returned  his  affection  an 
hundred  fold  into  his  own  bosom.  They  understood 
and  appreciated  him,  and  he  felt  and  knew  it.  They 
were,  in  his  own  language,  "  A  lovely  church"  to  him, 
strong  in  doctrine,  ardent  in  the  Lord's  work,  and  the 
fear  of  man  was  not  upon  them.  Through  all  his  trials 
in  the  Revision  cause,  they  held  up  his  hands,  and 
strengthened  his  heart,  by  their  sympathy,  their  gener- 
osity, and  their  prayers.  When  he  was  in  trouble,  they 
sought  him  ;  when  his  enemies  raged  against  him,  they 
defended  him,  and  were  as  a  living  wall  about  him  ;  and 
when  the  dearest  earthly  tie  was  broken,  and  she  in 
whom  he  had  garnered  up  his  heart  lay  no  longer  in  the 
bosom,  that  for  more  than  forty  years  had  pillowed  that 
darling  head — they  comforted  him.  May  his  Master, 
and  theirs,  bless  them  for  ever. 


LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON    CONE.  275 


CHAPTER    XVI. 

1841  to  1815. 

"Writing  to  Rev.  R.  E.  Pattison,  corresponding  se  c- 
retaiy  of  the  Missionary  Union  in  1811,  at  a  time  when 
the  excess  of  expenditures  over  its  receipts  filled  the 
minds  of  all  connected  with  it  with  anxiety,  he  says, 
"  As  to  the  state  of  our  treasury,  I  can  only  say,  I 
deeply  lament  it.  Such  help  as  I  may  command,  you 
may  always  rely  upon,  for  while  I  have  my  senses, 
the  work  and  cause  of  Missions  must  he  the  business  of 
my  life." 

They  had,  indeed,  been  the  great  business  of  his 
Christian  life  from  the  dawn  of  its  first  day.  ~Nov 
were  his  sympathies  exhausted  upon  the  foreign  field. 
Ardently  as  he  was  attached  to  the  Missions  and 
Missionaries  in  Europe  and  Asia,  the  destitution  of  his 
own  beloved  country,  and  the  desire  to  spread  through- 
out it,  everywhere,  the  preaching  of  a  pure  Gospel,  and 
the  circulation  of  pure  versions  of  the  living  oracles 
of  God,  lay  ever  upon  his  heart.  He  never  bent  his 
knee  at  the  family  altar  without  praying  for  his  native 
land,  as  a  child  might  pray  for  a  parent  tenderly 
beloved.  And  she  had  not  only  his  prayers,  but  his 
daily  exertions  in  aid  of  every  effort  made  in  her  behalf. 

"  I  have  labored,"  he  says,  "  in  the  cause  of  Baptist 
Home  Missions  for  more  than  forty  years.  Long  before 
the  present  organization  was  projected  (the  American 
Baptist  Home  Mission  Society),  I  discharged  the  duties 
both  of  corresponding  and  recording  secretary  of  the 


276  LIFE   OF   SPENCEK   HOUGHTON"    CONTE, 

New  York  Baptist  Domestic  Mission  Society,  and  since 
the  foundation  of  the  American  Baptist  Home  Mission 
Society,  have  endeavored  to  promote  its  usefulness,  with 
heart  and  hand,  tongue  and  pen,  as  God  has  graciously 
afforded  means  and  opportunity." 

lie  was  a  constituent  member  of  that  society  at  its 
formation,  April  27th,  1832. 

He  was  elected  one  of  its  directors  in  1832,  '35,  '36, 
'37,  '38,  and  '39.  Elected  vice  president  1810,  '11,  '12, 
and  13.  He  was  also  elected  a  member  of  the  execu- 
tive Board,  May  1st,  1832,  and  was  re-elected  annually 
till  1815,  when  he  resigned. 

In  May,  1839,  he  was  chosen  chairman  of  the  Board, 
and  held  the  office  annually  thereafter,  till  his  resigna- 
tion in  1815. 

He  was  re-elected  a  member  of  the  Board,  and  by 
the  Board  as  their  chairman,  in  May,  1819,  and 
remained  in  both  positions  till  April,  1855,  when  he 
again  resigned. 

After  so  many  years  of  harmonious  action,  and 
extended  influence,  the  vexed  question  of  slavery  intro- 
duced itself  into  the  society,  and  led  to  the  same 
unhappy  results,  which  have  attended  its  discussion  in 
every  religious  body  in  the  United  States.  The  force 
of  his  character,  his  eloquence,  and  his  fine  tact  in  the 
management  of  a  deliberative  body  averted  the  threaten- 
ed storm  at  Baltimore,  in  1811  ;  but  it  very  soon 
gathered  again  in  the  distance,  and  assuming  propor- 
tions too  vast  for  human  control,  burst  finally  upon  the 
different  societies  with  destructive  violence. 

Dr.  Dagg,  of  Georgia,  very  clearly  and  succinctly 
details  the  principal  events  preceding,  and  immediately 
conducing  to  the  separation  between  Northern  and 
Southern  Baptists  in  the  benevolent  societies,  which  had 
up  to  that  time  been  sustained  by  their  united  force. 


LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGIITON   CONE.  277 

K  Brother  Cone  exerted  his  influence,"  says  Dr.  Dagg, 
"to  prevent  the  unhappy  division,  which  separated  the 
Baptists  of  the  Korth  and  South  from  eacli  other.  One 
of  the  first  decisive  steps  in  effecting  this  separation, 
was  taken  by  the  American  Baptist  Home  Mission 
Society,  in  refusing  to  appoint  the  Rev.  James  E. 
Beeves  of  Georgia,  as  a  missionary.  The  Baptist  Con- 
vention of  Georgia,  at  its  session  in  1844  (April), 
instructed  its  executive  committee  to  recommend  Mr. 
Beeves  for  an  appointment,  and  at  the  same  time  to 
inform  the  Board  of  the  Home  Mission  Society  that  he 
was  a  slaveholder.  A  suspicion  was  spreading  among 
the  members  of  the  Convention,  that  the  Board  would 
not  knowingly  appoint  a  slaveholder  to  office ;  and  a 
call  was  made  to  test  this  matter.  In  compliance  with 
the  instructions  of  the  Convention,  the  Executive  com- 
mittee, of  which  I  was  a  member,  made  the  application 
in  the  manner  prescribed. 

Fearing  that  it  might  be  rejected,  and  that  disastrous 
results  would  follow,  I  wrote  a  private  letter  to  Brother 
Cone,  who  was  a  member  of  the  Home  Mission  Board, 
urging  his  attention  to  the  subject.  His  reply,  given  in 
the  following  letter  of  October  10th,  1841:,  exhibits  his 
position  on  this  question.     He  says  : 

"  After  five  meetings  upon  the  subject,  each  meeting 
of  at  least  three  hours'  continuance,  the  Board  of  the 
American  Bible  Home  Mission  Society,  adopted,  by  a 
vote  of  7  to  5,  the  accompanying  preamble  and  resolu- 
tions (adverse  to  appointing  Mr.  Beeves).  One  brother 
was  excused  from  voting,  on  the  ground  that  the  ques- 
tion was  pressed,  before  he  had  had  time  to  make  up 
his  mind  upon  its  merits.  The  final  question  was  taken 
by  yeas  and  nays  (the  first  instance  of  the  kind  since 
the  formation  of  the  society),  by  which  you  may  learn 


2(0  LIFE   OF   SPENCEK   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

that  the  brethren  deemed  it  of  importance  '  to  define 
their  position.' 

"  I  regret  this  result,  and  did  all  in  my  power  to  pre- 
vent it ;  believing  as  I  do,  that  the  constitution  knows 
nothing  of  slavery  or  anti-slavery,  I  besought  the 
brethren  to  act  as  we  always  had  done,  until  the  con- 
stitution should  be  altered.  I  suppose  there  will  be  a 
separation  between  the  North  and  South  next  April,  in 
our  Home  Mission  operations ;  as  many  brethren  have 
declared  their  unwillingness  to  commission  a  slave- 
holder as  a  missionary,  although  I  have  assured  them 
that  we  must  appoint  such  ministers  as  the  South  fellow- 
ship and  recommend,  or  the  society  must  be  dissolved. 
Some  of  the  members  of  our  Board,  who  have  the  same 
constitutional  views  with  myself,  would  have  voted  for 
the  application  from  Georgia,  if  nothing  had  oeen  said 
about  Brother  Beeves  being  a  slaveholder ;  but  they 
construed  this  mere  matter  of  information  into  an 
ungenerous  and  offensive  '  test,'  and  upon  that  word 
'  test1 — resolutions  and  amendments  were  hung — in 
every  possible  shape  and  form,  until  I  was  sick  at 
heart. 

"  It  is  my  opinion  that  a  Southern  Baptist  Home  Mis- 
sion Society  could  do  more  to  supply  preachers  for  the 
South,  than  the  National  Society  has  ever  done  ;  and  I 
suppose  there  are  brethren  in  Richmond  to  form  an 
efficient  board. 

"  My  aim  and  prayer  has  been  to  separate  the  South 
and  North,  if  we  must  separate,  kindly,  and  like  good 
Baptists ;  and  if  we  should  have  a  balance  in  our  Trea- 
sury, belonging  to  the  South,  I  would  have  it  repaid 
honestly  to  the  last  cent.  But  my  fear  is,  not  only  that 
the  Home  Mission  Society  will  be  dissolved,  but  that 
the  South  will  also  withdraw  from  our  Foreign  Mission 


LITE    OF    SPENCER    HCUGHTON   CONE.  279 

and  Bible  Society,  and  this  would  be  disastrous  in 
many  ways ;  and  this  last  we  must  prevent  if  the  Lord 
will. 

"  "Were  I  in  the  sunny  South,  I  should  see  a  wide  field 
opened  for  the  spread  of  the  Gospel  among  Indians  and 
negroes,  as  well  as  destitute  whites.  Baptists  have 
both  men  and  money — but  where  is  the  heart  to  use 
them? 

"With  your  views  of  the  independence  of  the 
churches,  and  their  right  to  decide  the  standing  of  min- 
isters  and  members,  I,  of  course,  cordially  agree. 
Indeed,  it  fills  me  with  surprise  that  any  Baptist  of 
sound  mind  should  think  or  act  differently.  But  I  have 
lived  to  see  good  brethren  think  one  sentiment,  and  act 
ovd,  another;  and  then  be  very  much  hurt  if  charged 
with  inconsistency." 

This  letter  fully  demonstrates,  that,  if  his  counsels 
could  have  prevailed,  the  unhappy  division  would  not 
have  occurred,  which  has  wrought  such  mischief  in  our 
denomination,  and  which,  taken  in  connection  with  like 
divisions  in  other  religious  denominations  threatens  to 
dissolve  the  ties  which  bind  the  United  States  together, 
and  bring  our  national  government  to  an  end." 

The  efforts  for  the  amelioration  of  the  condition  of  the 
American  Indian,  and  the  spread  of  the  Gospel  among 
the  different  tribes,  opens  an  interesting  and  varied 
chapter  in  the  history  of  Baptist  Home  Missions.  Mr. 
Cone's  early  and  never-flagging  interest  in  them  ;  his 
close  and  fraternal  connection  with  their  chief  mission- 
ary, and  the  well-known  frequency  of  his  appeals  in 
behalf  of  those  to  whom  the  advancement  of  civiliza- 
tion on  this  continent  had  brought  only  misery  and 
injustice,  ally  the  subject  intimately  with  the  record  of 
his  life.  Previous,  however,  to  entering  upon  a  more 
detailed  statement  of  the  Indian  mission  and  his  connec- 


280  LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOtJGHTON   CONE. 

tion  with  it,  we  insert  here  a  communication  from  the 
.Rev.  John  Bates  of  Cascade,  Iowa,  going  to  illustrate  his 
general  interest  in  all  missionary  operations.  The  He  v. 
Mr.  Bates  says  :  "  It  was  in  April,  1848,  that  I  landed 
in  New  York,  a  perfect  stranger,  to  beg  for  the  erection 
of  a  Baptist  meeting-house  in  Ireland.  From  the  fact 
that  Mr.  Dunbar,  I  think,  of  McDougal  street,  had  sent 
a  communication  to  Ireland  about  the  famine,  I  found 
him  out  and  called  to  see  him.  He  said,  '  You  had  better 
call  and  see  Brother  Cone,  as  all  will  be  pretty  much 
guided  by  his  movement.'  I  called  on  him,  told  him 
my  tale,  and  he  replied  in  substance  as  follows  (I  would 
not  defend  the  words  but  the  substance  is  perfectly  true). 
"  I  am  glad  to  see  you,  but  you  can  get  nothing  to  build 
churches.  We  are  flooded  with  men  tor  this  object 
from  the  West.  Could  you  not  beg  for  your  Irish 
Society  ?  That  is  doing  a  noble  work,  and  then  I  will 
help  you  as  far  as  I  can.  Yet,  I  fear  you  may  not  get 
much,  as  we  have  our  Home  Mission  now,  and  are  in 
that  respect  differently  circumstanced  to  what  we  were 
when  Brother  Davis  was  here  in  1832,  and  collected 
between  $5,000  and  $6,000  to  aid  your  society.  After  a 
little  more  conversation  about  my  object,  and  an  in  vita- 
tion  to  call  upon  him  whenever  I  wanted  advice,  in 
withdrawing,  he  said,  "  I  shall  make  a  recommendation 
of  your  object  in  your  collecting-book,  give  you  a  sub- 
scription myself,  and  the  First  Church  will  take  up  a  col- 
lection on  your  behalf.  We  must  do  something  for  poor 
Ireland,  whether  it  is  in  building  the  meeting-house  or 
for  the  funds  of  the  society. 

"  In  writing  the  recommendation  in  my  collecting- 
book,  he  urged  '  the  churches  cheerfully  and  promptly 
to  aid  in  this  work,'  setting  an  example  by  giving  a 
donation  of  $10  himself,  and  his  church  the  largest  col- 
lection I  had  from  any  one  in  America. 


LIFE    OF    SPENCER    HOUGHTON    CONE.  281 

"  I  preached  for  him  several  times,  and  frequently 
called  on  him  for  advice,  as  lie  took  a  lively  interest  in 
the  object  of  my  visit,  and  '  deeply  felt  the  necessity  of 
spreading  the  Gospel  in  Ireland,  as  the  only  remedy  for 
her  woes.' 

"  One  day,  in  walking  with  him  from  his  own  resi 
dence  to  the  First  Church,  he  paused,  and  said,  as  ho 
gently  put  his  hand  on  my  shoulder,  'Brother  Bates, 
I  wish  you  would  send  for  your  family  and  stop  in 
America.'  I  replied  that  I  must  go  back,  and  inquired 
'if  Ireland  did  not  need  the  Gospel?'  'Oh,  yes,'  was 
his  prompt  reply  ;  '  go  back  and  labor  in  that  destitute 
country,  and  God  bless  you.  Situated  as  it  is  on  the 
great  pathway  of  the  Atlantic,  from  England  to  Amer- 
ica, it  ought  to  be  occupied  by  American  as  well  as 
English  Baptists,  seeing  that  so  many  come  to  our 
shores."  In  conversing  with  him  on  this  point,  he 
evidently  felt  much  for  Ireland,  and  thought  that  it  was 
'  ground  for  American  missions  quite  as  much  as 
English,"  and  if  any  project  had  been  started  among 
the  English  and  American  Baptists  for  the  more  perfect 
occupation  of  the  island,  I  believe  that  his  heart  and 
soul  would  have  been  thrown  into  the  subject. 

"  As  regards  any  description  of  him  as  a  preacher,  I 
feel  that  I  am  unable  for  the  task.  He  possessed  clear 
views  of  Divine  truth,  and  in  an  eloquent  manner  pecu- 
liarly his  own,  he  proclaimed  the  message  of  Divine 
mercy  in  silvery  tones,  with  beautiful  simplicity,  great 
tenderness,  and  earnest  zeal.  The  great  characteristics 
of  his  heart  and  mind  seemed  to  be  an  invincible  desire 
to  set  forth  the  Gospel  in  all  its  heavenly  light,  linked 
with  an  unquenchable  thirst  for  the  salvation  of  men." 

To  return,  however,  t  >  the  subject  of  Indian  missions 
from  which  the  kind  and  valuable  letter  just  given  has 
diverted  us. 


282  LIFE    OF    SPENCER    HOUGHTON    CONE. 

In  1817,  Isaac  McCoy  was  appointed  by  the  Board 
of  Managers  of  the  Baptist  Missionary  Convention,  for 
the  United  States,  a  Missionary  to  the  American  Indi- 
ans. His  earlier  labors  were  performed  in  Indiana  and 
Illinois,  then  the  realization  of  that  indefinite  American 
idea,  "the  far  West."  The  acquaintance  of  Isaac  McCoy 
with  the  subject  of  our  memoir  commenced  at  a  very 
early  period  of  his  missionary  enterprise.  The  word 
enterprise  is,  indeed,  the  only  one  which  describes  the 
undertaking.  It  was  long  considered  almost  chimerical 
to  attempt  anything  for  the  moral  or  physical  ameliora- 
tion of  the  condition  of  the  American  Indian,  and  the 
best  men  doubted  the  wisdom  or  practicability  of  the 
effort.  Indeed,  even  after  the  astonishing  successes  of 
Isaac  McCoy,  successes  achieved  in  the  teeth  of  every- 
thing that  would  have  disheartened  a  man  less  sanguine, 
or  less  faithful,  no  clear  and  hearty  support  was  ever 
afforded  him.  It  was  the  task  of  Spencer  H.  Cone,  a 
task  performed  with  the  ungrudging  heartiness  of  faith 
and  love,  to  stand  between  him  and  many  who  failed  to 
comprehend  the  value  of  his  services  in  the  cause  of 
missions,  or  the  generous  scope  of  his  benevolence. 
Thus,  when  unfounded  tales  had  been  told  to  McCoy's 
discredit,  and  the  majority  of  the  Board  of  Missions  in 
Boston  were  inclined  to  believe,  and  act  upon  them, 
he  says,  in  a  letter  to  Dr.  Bolles,  secretary  of  the  Board 
of  Missions,  December  29th,  1829,  "  I  am  not  inclined 

to  put  • and  McCoy  on  the  same  shelf.    It  is  not  in 

my  natv/re  to  give  up  a  friend  because  others  do,  and, 
therefore,  without  intending  the  slightest  disrespect  to 
the  pious  and  intelligent  Boston  brethren,  I  must  wait 
for  more  light." 

lie  waited ;  the  light  shone  on  the  character  of  Mc- 
Coy, and  showed  him,  by  every  new  discovery,  to  be  only 
the  more  worthy  of  friendship,  affection,  and  support. 


LIFE    OF    SrKKCEE    HOUGHTON   CONE.  283 

Isaac  McCoy  was  one  of  the  most  lovable  men  we 
ever  had  the  happiness  of  being  acquainted  with.  Liv- 
ing his  whole  life  amongst  wild  Indian  tribes,  and 
wilder  frontiers-men  ;  living  a  life  of  exposure,  vicissi- 
tude, and  hardships  scarcely  to  be  described  ;  always  in 
the  saddle  or  the  camp,  and  every  day  risking  life  and 
limb  to  preach  the  Gospel  amongst  those  whom  all  the 
rest  of  the  world  seemed,  to  conspire  to  destroy  or 
forget — his  mind  and  manners,  instead  of  becoming 
rude  or  hard  in  these  rough  uses  and  associations,  grew, 
all  the  while,  softer,  holier,  and  more  loving.  Nothing 
could  be  finer  than  his  manners.  Never  familiar,  and 
carrying  in  his  quiet  eye  an  indescribable  something, 
which  prevented  any  one  from  ever  being  familiar  with 
him,  he  never  repelled.  On  the  contrary,  he  attracted; 
children  loved  him.  Men  were  compelled  to  feel,  in  his 
company,  that  they  were  near  something,  good,  kind,  and 
noble.  The  warm  coloring  of  the  heart  tinged  his  words 
and  manner,  quiet  as  they  were,  in  everything  he  did  or 
said.  If  you  had  done  anything  true  or  good,  you  knew 
he  loved  you  for  it.  When  he  looked  at  you,  you  felt 
there  was  no  selfish  thought  or  scheme  working  in  his 
mind;  but  that  he  was  thinking  what  he  could  do  for 
y<mr  benefit,  or  happiness,  or  for  the  benefit  of  some  poor 
soul  that  was  in  need  of  others'  help  and  kindness. 

That  two  such  hearts  as  his  and  Spencer  II.  Cone's 
should  beat  in  unison;  that  their  trust  and  confidence  in 
each  other  should  be  without  limit  or  reserve,  w^as  a 
thing  of  course.  To  know  each  other  but  a  little,  was 
to  ripen  acquaintance  into  friendship  ;  to  know  each 
other  better,  and  have  their  hearts  laid  into  each  other's 
hands,  as  they  soon  were,  like  open  books  where  every 
pure  and  generous  thought  was  plainly  written,  was  to 
deepen  friendship  into  a  loving  brotherhood  strong  as 
that  of  Jonathan  and  David.    "  I  love  McCoy  tenderly," 


284  LIFE   OF   SPENCEK   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

he  says,  to  Dr.  Bolles,  in  a  letter  dated  April  26th,  1827. 
Hon.  Pieman  Lincoln  says,  in  a  late  letter  to  us:  "  Your 
father  was  deeply  interested  in  the  welfare  of  the  Indian 
tribes  on  the  frontiers  of  our  country.  He  was  actively 
engaged  in  many  important  measures  for  their  instruc- 
tion and  conversion  to  Christianity.  Our  friend,  Isaac 
McCoy,  who  devoted  his  life  to  the  benefit  of  the  red- 
men  of  the  forest,  depended  more  upon  his  counsel 
and  assistance  than  upon  any  other  individual.  They 
are  now,  we  hope,  mutually  reaping  their  reward  in 
Heaven."  One  accustomed  to  distinguish  betwen  men, 
or  observe  with  any  nicety  the  shades  of  human  char- 
acter and  human  callings  as  developed  in  their  manner, 
would,  before  they  knew  his  occupation,  have  fancied 
Isaac  McCoy  habitually  the  denizen  of  a  court.  There 
could  be  no  finer  illustration  of  how  much  the  heart  has 
to  do  with  the  bearing  and  manner,  than  was  shown  in 
him,  and  it  is,  therefore,  worthy  to  be  recorded,  as  high 
evidence  of  the  truth,  that  a  Christian  gentleman  is  the 
most  perfect  gentleman  in  the  world.  The  manners  of 
the  courtier  may  have  exquisite  finish  and  polish,  as  the 
result  of  daily  intercourse  with  the  refined  and  great, 
but  something  too  much  of  care  and  nicety  betra}Ts 
them  often  to  be  merely  the  fine  covering  of  gross 
wishes  and  selfish  purpose.  When,  however,  as  in 
Isaac  McCoy,  to  a  heart  all  love  to  man,  and  faith  in 
God,  is  added  the  warm  glow  of  its  passionate  and  eager 
longing  after  opportunity  to  do  good  to  all  men,  elegance 
of  manner  comes  to  he  but  the  reflection  of  a  holy  and 
universal  benevolence. 

McCoy  had  not  only  to  contend  with  nature  in  its 
ruggedest  form,  and  learn  the  full  penalty  of  Adam  in 
breasting  the  seasons'  change  ;  not  only  to  meet  the  dif- 
ficulties of  an  intercourse  with  wild  men  and  savage 
habits,  but  away  beyond  the  limits  of  civilized  life,  he 


LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE.  285 

was  met  and  opposed,  and  often  thwarted,  by  one  of  its 
most  dangerous  developments.  The  ubiquitous  Jesuit 
followed    or    preceded    him,   and    busied    himself  with. 

sowing  doubt  in  the  minds  of  the  red-men  of  the  forest, 
and  planting-  thorns  everywhere  beside  the  pathway  of 
the  Baptist  Missionary.  At  Fort  Wayne,  one  of  his 
earliest  stations,  he  came  first  in  contact  with  them,  and 
recognized  a  new  and  powerful  element  of  opposition. 
Three  priests  visited  the  station,  one  immediately 
commenced  preaching  on  the  subject  of  Baptism.  "I 
soon  became  convinced,"  says  McCoy,  "  that  his  design 
was  to  provoke  altercation  with  me,  which  he  might, 
through  the  Catholics  mingling  with  the  Indians,  turn  to 
the  disadvantage  of  our  mission.  I  had  been  admonish- 
ed by  their  prejudices,  soon  after  I  became  a  missionary, 
to  be  ever  on  the  alert  with  regard  to  them."  His  con- 
ciliatory bearing,  and  refusal  to  enter  upon  a  warfare  of 
polemics  before  such  an  audience,  averted  the  threatened 
storm. 

Certain  of  his  own  brethren  were  quite  as  hostile  as 
the  Jesuit  missionaries.  "  In  1818,"  he  says,  "  1  met 
at  the  Silver  Creek  Baptist  Association,  in  Indiana,  a 
certain  minister  of  that  State,  who  violently  opposed  all 
our  missionary  operations,  and,  as  I  thought,  needlessly 
provoked  altercation,  not  to  say  strife.  He  was  marshal 
of  the  State,  and,  in  discharge  of  official  duties,  visited 
Fort  Wayne  in  1822." 

McCoy  invited  this  violent  opposer  to  his  house  ; 
showed  him  his  school,  and  his  scholars ;  gave  him  the 
opportunity  of  making  himself  fairly  and  fully  acquaint- 
ed with  all  he  had  done,  and  was  doing.  The  effect  of 
personal  acquaintance  w.th  the  facts,  was  such  that,  "on 
his  return  home,  he  wrote  to  Colonel  Richard  M.  John- 
son, then  a  member  of  Congress,  highly  commending 
the  mission,  its  prospects,  &c." 


286  LIFE   OF    SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

The  marshal  of  Indiana  was  not  a  solitary  instance 
of  perverse  sentiments  prevailing  in  the  Baptist  mind 
with  regard  to  the  Indian  Mission  :  and  against  both 
lukewarm  friends  and  open  foes,  McCoy  had  scarcely  a 
single  unwavering  supporter,  in  the  leading  men  of  the 
denomination,  besides  Mr.  Cone,  for  some  of  the  most 
laborious  and  trying  years  of  his  missionary  life. 

Left  without  resources  in  the  very  commencement  of 
his  labors,  and  when  everything  began  to  bear  the  most 
favorable  aspect  for  their  success  ;  oppressed  with  debt 
contracted  for  support  of  the  mission  and  its  schools,  he 
set  out  in  company  with  the  mail  carrier,  and  traversed 
the  desert  to  Detroit.  "  On  reaching  Detroit,  my  busi- 
ness was  with  General  Cass  (then  Governor  of  Michigan 
Territory),  who  listened  to  the  story  of  our  wants  with  a 
sympathy  that  does  honor  to  humanity,  and  having 
control  of  some  public  means,  he  was  so  kind  as  to 
promise  me  aid.  He  furnished  about  four  hundred  and 
fifty  dollars'  worth  of  clothing  and  food  for  our  Indian 
scholars." 

To  General  Cass,  indeed,  the  mission  was  frequently 
indebted  for  invaluable  services.  Its  rivals  and  oppo- 
nents, the  Catholics,  were  openly  favored  by  many 
Indian  agents  and  men  holding  official  station  on  the 
frontier,  to  the  prejudice  and  exclusion  of  the  Baptist 
missions  and  missionaries  from  the  benefit  of  lands  and 
funds  set  apart  by  government  for  the  purpose  of  Indian 
education  and  improvement.  The  wrong  and  injustice 
was  very  great,  and  conflicted  directly  with  the  spirit 
and  intention  of  the  authorities  at  Washington,  and  the 
policy  of  the  American  government,  in  matters  of 
religious  concern.  That  policy  has  been  under  all 
administrations  to  preserve  a  strict  impartiality,  and 
apply  the  funds  set  apart  for  the  improvement  of  the  con- 
dition of  the  Indian  tribes,  wTithcut  reference  to  sectarian 


LIFE   OF   SPENCEE   HOUG/ITON   CONE.  28f 

systems  or  divisions.  To  prevent  the  perversion  of 
government  funds  and  lands,  McCoy  depended  greatly 
upon  Mr.  Cone's  acquaintance  and  influence  with  Andrew 
Jackson,  Lewis  Cass,  and  Kichard  M.  Johnson — the 
three  men,  of  all  the  men  in  the  United  States,  who  took 
the  most  direct,  and  constant  interest  in  the  Indian 
tribes  and  were  always  foremost  to  do  them  good,  as 
far  as  their  personal  or  official  power  extended. 

The  financial  condition  of  the  mission  was  but  little 
improved  down  to  the  year  1833  ;  occasional  aid  was 
procured  from  government,  and  the  Board  of  Missions, 
but  from  neither  sufficient  to  relieve  them  entirely  from 
their  embarrassments. 

June  20th,  1833,  McCoy  writes  to  Rev.  Charles  E. 
Wilson,  "  Our  friend,  Mr.  S.  11.  Cone,  has  recently  had 
a  personal  interview  with  the  Secretary  of  War  (General 
Cass)  on  the  subject  of  the  Baptist  mission  amongst  the 
Choctaws.  The  Secretary  has  promised  to  appoint  you 
one  of  the  three  teachers  stipulated  for  in  the  treaty  of 
Dancing  Rabbit  Creek,  *  *  *  *  forward  your 
testimonials  to  Dr.  Bolles,  also  a  copy  to  Mr.  Cone,  and 
one  to  me. 

"  You  will  perceive  by  the  treaty  at  Doak's  stand, 
October,  1820,  that  51  sections  (640  acres  each)  of  land 
are  to  be  sold  to  raise  a  fund  for  the  support  of  schools. 
By  the  treaty  at  Dancing  Creek,  1830,  the  United  States 
agreed  to  keep  10  Choctaw  youths  in  school  for  twenty 
years.  This  I  presume  has  been  intended  for  Colonel 
Johnson's  school. 

"By  the  treaty  at  Washington,  January,  1825,  the 
sum  of  $0,000,  annually,  for  twenty  years,  is  to  be  applied 
to  the  support  of  schools  in  the  Choctaw  nation. 

••It  seems  to  be  the  opinion  of  Mr.  Cone  that  with 
the  $6,000  annual  appropriation  it  is  contemplated  by 
the  government  to  establish  in  the  nation  about  ten 


288  LIFE    OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

primary  schools,  and  that  the  three  schools  provided  for 
by  the  treaty  of  1830,  under  the  management  of  the 
three  teachers,  shall  he  schools  of  a  higher  order." 

In  a  letter  to  Dr.  Belles,  August,  27th,  1830,  Mr.  Cone 
says — "  Suppose  the  government  should  choose  to  do 
nothing  for  another  year  or  two  ;  must  we  be  still  and 
not  lift  a  linger  in  the  cause  ;  are  our  benevolent  enter- 
prises suspended  upon  the  will  of  politicians  and  ungodly 
men?  I  hope  not.  I  have  no  doubt  that  missionaries 
could  be  called  out,  and  funds  raised  for  their  support 
(with  reference  to  the  American  Indians)  with  just  as 
much  ease  as  has  been  accomplished  for  the  heathen 
abroad ;"  and  in  a  letter  to  the  same,  October  13th, 
1830  :  "  It  is  a  grief  to  me  that  I  am  not  able  to  coin- 
cide with  the  views  of  the  board,  as  expressed  in  yours 
of  16th  ultimo.  You  say,  '  we  have  had  our  convictions 
severely  tried,  whether  we  should  continue  to  have  any 
connection  with  the  government,"  and  yet  you  say — 
'  it  appears  to  us  inexpedient  to  do  more  than  follow 
them  ;  but  hazard  nothing  by  anticipation."  Now  I 
cannot  think  it  right  to  follow  or  wait  for  government 
or  ungodly  men,  in  this  matter.  It  is  our  duty  to  go 
forward /  if  the  earth  be  made  to  help  the  woman,  it  is 
well ;  but  if  not,  the  Master  still  says  to  us,  '  Go  ye — ■ 
preach  the  Gospel,'  &c.  And  relying  on  His  promised 
aid,  we  must  with  sacred  courage  go.  There  are 
already  many  Indians  west  of  the  Mississippi — have  they 
no  claims  upon  us  ?" 

In  a  letter  of  the  same  date  as  the  last  quoted  from 
him,  McCoy  writes  to  Mr.  Cone — "  I  rejoice  much  to 
hear  of  the  favorable  reception  you  met  with  at 
Washington.  I  have  no  doubt  that  much  benefit  will 
be  produced  by  your  visit.  Your  visits  to  that  place 
must  be  repeated.  I  have  heard  nothing  as  yet  from 
General  Clark  about  surveying — I  hope  I  shall  soon. 


LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE.  289 

I  am  sensibly  affected,  and  so  are  my  family,  with  your 
kindness  in  offering  to  contribute  towards  our  support 
May  the  Lord  abundantly  reward  you  and  yours  with 
better  things  than  { the  meat  that  perisheth.'  Should 
necessity  oblige  me,  I  shall  thankfully  avail  myself  of 
your  kindness.  Still  I  hope  that  the  Lord  will  provide 
some  other  way  for  me  to  live.  It  is  a  source  of  much 
grief  to  me  that  the  procuring  support  for  my  family, 
under  my  peculiar  circumstances,  occupies  my  head 
and  my  hand  so  much  as  greatly  to  abridge  their  labors 
in  Indian  matters.  Be  assured  that  your  solicitude  for 
the  welfare  of  the  Indians,  and  your  kindness  to  me,  are 
appreciated." 

McCoy  and  all  that  concerned  him  lay  constantly  at 
his  heart,  and  were  the  daily  subject  of  his  thoughts  and 
prayers.  He  knew  his  devoted  spirit,  his  noble  sacrifice 
of  every  selfish  consideration  to  the  call  of  duty,  and 
sympathized  with  them.  How  could  he  do  otherwise, 
with  such  a  touching  evidence  as  the  following  before 
him.  "  I  think,"  says  McCoy,  "  I  will  tug  along  as  I 
am  some  three  or  four  months  longer.  If  the  matter  of 
giving  to  the  Indians  a  permanent  home  and  territorial 
government  were  once  established  on  a  footing  that 
would  facilitate  the  labors  of  missionaries,  I  should  feel 
the  less  concern  about  the  manner  of  spending  the  little 
life  which  remains  to  me. 

"  Do  not  imagine,  my  dear  friend,  that  because  I  am 
earning  nothing  for  the  support  of  my  family,  I  am 
doing  nothing  in  Indian  business.  I  am  busily  employed 
in  labors  for  the  benefit  of  these  poor  people,  and  hope 
to  continue  busy  until  about  the  time  that  the  last  loaf 
comes  to  the  table" 

Lone:  before  this  Mr.  Cone  had  learned  so  well  tc 
appreciate  the  "  dauntless  temper  of  his  mind,"  and  the 

13 


290  LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

character  of  his  services  as  a  missionary,  that  he  writes 
to  Dr.  Bolles  : 

"  I  know  not  how  it  is,  my  brother,  but  the  sentiment 
is    deeply  imprinted    upon    my  heart,   that  while    the 
Elliots  and  Brainards  are  remembered,  the  name  of 
Isaac  McCoy,  the  red-man's  benefactor,  will  not  be  foi 
gotten.     Let  us  think  of  him  in  our  daily  orisons." 

To  entirely  understand  McCoy's  position,  it  must  bo 
kept  in  mind,  that  his  constant  desire  and  ambition  w.is 
to  pursue  his  course  as  a  missionary  with  as  little  help 
from  the  Board  of  Missions  as  possible.  Thus  he  says,  in 
the  same  letter :  "  Whatever  may  be  the  duty  of  thp 
Board  in  respect  to  offering  me  a  living,  I  am  deter 
mined  not  to  accept  of  a  dollar,  so  long  as  1  can  live 
without  it  and  still  work  for  the  Indians." 

His  main  dependence,  therefore,  was  upon  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  Cnited  States,  and  in  their  employment 
as  a  surveyor  of  government  lands,  or  other  small  offices 
in  and  about  the  Indian  reservations,  he  contrived 
to  eke  out  a  precarious  subsistence.  To  many  of  these 
Mr.  Cone  had  the  happiness  of  being  able  to  procure  his 
appointment.  What  men  of  the  world  would  think  a 
foolish  honesty  prevented  McCoy  from  being  a  very 
rich  man.  At  almost  eveiy  cession  of  their  lands  to  the 
United  States  by  the  Indian  tribes,  they  insisted  upon 
making  it  one  of  the  conditions  of  the  cession  that  he 
should  receive  a  part  of  the  land  conveyed,  and  the 
expression  of  their  desire  would  have  ensured  the 
prompt  acquiescence  of  the  government.  But  he  inva- 
riably and  peremptorily  forbade  it.  His  desire  was  for 
the  soul  of  the  Indian,  not  his  lands  ;  and  his  knowledge 
of  human  nature  taught  him  that  the  least  appearance 
even  of  a  selfish  care  of  his  own  interests  would  destroy 
his  usefulness  amongst  them  as  a  missionary. 


LIFE    OF   SPENCEE    KOUGIITON   CONE.  291 

What  kind  of  a  life  lie  chose,  rather  than  one  of  ease 
and  opulence,  appears  by  an  extract  or  two  from  a  letter 
of  1835,  to  Mr.  Cone.  "Not  long  since,  Mr.  Lykins 
received  a  letter  from  you,  in  which  yon  informed  him 
that  the  Secretary  of  War  had  directed  that  surveying 
should  be  given  me,  sufficient  to  employ  my  time 
through  the  year,  and  directing  him  to  inform  you  if  I 
had  been  thus  employed.  In  answer  to  you,  I  say,  that 
they  wrote  me  from  the  War  Office  that  General  William 
Clark,  superintendent  for  Indian  affairs  in  St.  Louis,  had 
been  directed  to  employ  me  to  survey  one  tract  on  the 
Mississippi,  provided  he  had  not  previously  made  an 
arrangement  with  some  other  person  to  perform  the 
work.  Clark  wrote  me  that  he  had  employed  another 
person  prior  to  receiving  instructions  from  the  Secretary 
of  War  in  my  favor.  This  I  believe  was  not  true.  But 
it  happened  as  I  expected  when  I  discovered  that  there 
Was  a  discretion  left  with  Clark.  General  Clark  is 
under  the  influence  of  the  St.  Louis  Catholics,  and  of  St. 
Louis  infidelity.  lie  has  ever  been  fair  to  my  face,  but 
he  has  never  been  my  friend,  and  he  will  not  do 
anything  for  me,  only  as  he  is  compelled.  I  have  no 
business  from  government.  About  half  my  time  I 
employ  in  writing,  and  in  other  matters  relating  to  our 
missions.  The  other  half  /spend  in  posting  hooks  for 
n<  ighbori/rbg  merehemts,  for  which  I  receive  moderate 
wages.  We  have  also  three  or  four  men  commonly 
boarding  with  us,  which  brings  us  a  little  profit  and 
a  good  deal  of  trouble.  By  these  means,  and  by  selling 
some  movable  property,  which  we  could  spare  with 
least  inconvenience,  I  am  yet  unembarrassed  in  pecuni- 
ary circumstances. 

"  I  feel  ashamed  to  trouble  jou  with  these  little 
things  when  you  have  so  many  mighty  men  and  matters 


292  LIFE   OF  SPENCER    I  OUGHTON   CONE. 

to  engross  your  attention,  hut  I  know  who  I  am  writing 

tor 

He  knew  well  who  he  was  writing  to,  and  his  confi- 
dence was  not  misplaced,  as  the  prompt  action  of  the 
government  proved.  In  his  next,  Mi-.  McCoy  writes, 
"Your  valuable  letters  of  the  5th  September  were 
received  here  in  my  absence  to  St.  Louis.  The  corres- 
pondence which  you  had  the  kindness  to  open  with  the 
Secretary  of  War  in  my  behalf,  resulted  in  a  communi- 
cation promptly  made  to  me  by  General  Clark,  proposing 
to  give  me  the  surveying  of  the  northern  boundaries  of 
the  Osage  and  Kansas  lands.  Clark  had  intended 
to  give  the  work  to  another  person  had  you  not  inter- 
posed in  my  behalf.  I  have  taken  it.  It  will  be  four  or 
five  months'  labor,  and  will  be  worth  to  me  six  or  seven 
hundred  dollars.  I  believe  your  kindness  to  me  will  be 
rewarded  to  you  and  yours  by  our  Heavenly  Father." 

Five  yrears  before  this  time  Isaac  McCoy  was  one 
winter  a  guest  at  Mr.  Cone's  house,  in  New  York  under 
very  painful  circumstances,  and  whilst  there  all  the 
family  learned  to  love  him. 

He  had  arrived  one  very  cold  day  in  the  mid-winter 
when  most  of  the  family  were  absent.  The  servant 
admitted  him.  He  put  off  his  overcoat,  and  asked  for 
water  to  wash  his  face  and  hands.  He  then  sat  down 
in  the  parlor,  and  waited  quietly  the  return  of  some  of 
the  family.  He  must  have  remained  thus  for  more 
than  an  hour.  When  *Mr.  and  Mrs.  Cone  came  in, 
after  exchanging  the  usual  greetings  of  friends  who  had 
been  long  separated,  and  answering  the  many  questions 
always  put  at  such  times,  he  said  quietly  : 

"  We  have  had  an  accident  coming  from  Philadelphia, 
and  I  fear  I  am  seriously  injured.  I  believe,  Brother 
Cone,  some  of  my  ribs  are  broken." 


LIFE    OF    SrFXCER   HOUGHTON   CONE.  203 

Everybody  was,  of  course,  instantly  on  the  alert  to  aid 
him.  Mr.  Cone  assisted  him  to  his  chamber,  and  put 
him  to  bed,  and  for  nearly  six  weeks  he  had  to  lift  and 
turn  him  like  an  infant. 

His  own  account,  given  in  his  "  History  of  Indian 
Affairs,"  published  in  1810,  shows  against  what  suffering 
he  sustained  himself,  without  a  groan  or  complaint  on 
that  occasion. 

"At  this  time  the  subject  of  Indian  removal  was 
warmly  agitated,  and  numerous  memorials  reached 
Congress,  opposed  to  the  collocation  of  the  tribes  in  the 
"West.  In  order  that  those  in  Congress  who  opposed  the 
measure  might  not  have  all  the  argument  to  be  drawn 
from  memorials  on  their  side,  I  wrote  to  friends  in  divers 
places  what  I  deemed  to  be  the  true  state  of  the  case. 
In  order  also  to  promote  light  views  in  reference  to 
memorializing  Congress,  and  to  confer  with  the  board, 
at  its  request,  I  went  to  Philadelphia,  where  I  remained 
ten  days.  I  had  left  Philadelphia  but  a  few  miles  for 
New  York,  on  the  13th  of  February,  1830,  when  the 
stage  capsized,  and  so  injured  me  that  for  sometime  my 
recovery  was  doubtful.  One  of  my  shoulders  was  much 
injured,  several  ribs  broken,  and  my  chest  was  so 
crushed  byr  a  vast  weight  which  fell  upon  me,  that  my 
breast  and  sides  ever  after  remained  much  out  of  natu- 
ral shape. 

At  the  time,  I  thought  it  probable  that  I  should  not 
recover,  and  made  a  vigorous  effort  to  reach  the  residence 
of  my  untiling  friend,  Mr.  Cone,  in  New  York.  I  was 
conducted  into  his  hospitable  dwelling  under  circum- 
stances which  scarcely  admitted  a  hope  that  I  should 
leave  it  with  life.  Here,  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Cone,  I 
remained  thirty-seven  days,  and  when  I  left  I  was 
barely  able  to  move,  being  exceedingly  sore  and  in 
much  pain.     The  kindness  of  these  good  people  made  a 


294  LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

deep  impression  on  my  sense  of  gratitude,  and  that  of 
all  my  family.  To  their  unremitted  attention  and  their 
ardent  sympathies,  and  sensible  and  consoling  conversa- 
tion, when  anxieties  respecting  my  family,  the  Indians, 
and  the  missionaries,  were  rapidly  accumulating,  may 
be  attributed  in  a  great  degree  the  agency  which  a  gra- 
cious God  employed  for  my  restoration.  No  doubt  such 
acts  of  kindness  are  noticed  in  heaven." 

During  his  illness  he  had  endeared  himself  to  the 
family  by  his  patience  in  suffering,  and  the  sweetness  of 
his  manners,  and  they  all  parted  with  him  with  unaffec- 
ted sorrow. 

Crushed  and  helpless  as  he  was,  Mr.  Cone  was,  ot 
necessity  as  wTell  as  choice,  his  constant  nurse.  McCoy 
could  not  make  the  slightest  effort  either  to  turn  or 
change  his  position  in  the  bed.  His  friend's  great  phy- 
sical strength  made  him,  under  such  circumstances,  a 
tenderer  nurse  than  the  kindest  woman  could  have  been. 
He  moved  and  handled  him  as  if  he  were  a  child.  Time 
has  not  effaced  the  impression  on  their  minds  who  were 
the  daily  observers  of  those  scenes.  Nothing  could  be 
more  touching  than  to  see  those  two  men,  whose  lives 
were  governed  by  the  same  lofty  sentiment  of  devotion 
to  the  cause  of  human  regeneration,  giving  ar.d  receiving 
from  each  other  the  tenderest  evidences  of  an  almost 
"womanly  affection. 

If  anything  could  increase  the  interest  felt  by  Mr. 
Cone  in  Indian  missions,  or  enlist  his  sympathies  and 
efforts  more  actively  in  their  behalf,  it  can  hardly  be 
doubted  that  the  relationship  established  between  him- 
self and  Mr.  McCoy  at  this  time  had  such  a  tendency. 

McCoy's  ideas  were  never  restricted  to  laboring  as  a 
missionary  in  a  single  tribe.  His  mind  was  large  and 
comprehensive.  All  its  powers  were  devoted  without 
intermission  or  distraction  to  the  subject  of  the  Indians. 


LIFE    OF    SPENCER   HOUGHTON    CONE.  295 

He  desired  their  conversion  to  Christianity,  hut  he  took 
in  at  a  grasp,  all  the  accidents  and  peculiarities  of  their 
position  and  relationship  to  the  whites,  and  saw  the 
necessity  of  combining  their  moral  instruction  with  a 
certain  physical  and  social  process  of  gradual  concen- 
tration and  elevation. 

In  Mr.  Cone  he  found  a  kindred  spirit,  capable  of 
holding  all  the  threads  of  the  difficult  web  it  was  neces- 
sary to  weave.  The  interest  of  speculators,  Indian 
traders,  government  agents,  and  a  thousand  others, 
exercising  a  large  influence  at  Washington,  and  on  the 
public  mind,  was  interfered  with  by  the  success  of  the 
missions.  The  elevation  of  the  social  condition  of  the 
Indian  rescued  him  from  the  influences  of  intemperance, 
and  all  the  crimes  out  of  which  their  craft  made  great 
gain.  Separated  himself  by  more  than  a  thousand  miles 
from  the  centre  to  which  all  these  influences  against 
him  directed  themselves,  and  from  which  they  levelled 
their  secret  attacks,  McCoy  depended  constantly  upon 
his  friend  Mr.  Cone,  to  frustrate  or  divert  them.  The 
following  extract,  from  a  private  letter  of  McCoy's,  very 
briefly  and  strongly  develops  the  spirit  which  actuated 
and  sustained  the  difficulties  which  surrounded  him. 

'•You  will  easily  perceive  the  critical  state  of  Indian 
affairs  at  this  time.  For  the  two  latter  sessions  of  Con- 
gress, the  scale  has  hung  in  suspense,  or  it  has  rather 
indicated  a  preponderance  unfavorable  to  the  Indians. 

"  Do  not  accuse  me  of  arrogance  on  account  of  the 
remarks  which  I  make  to  you.  I  am  sensible  of  my 
want  of  qualification,  for  the  work  about  which  I  am 
talking.  I  entered  upon  it  because  I  believed  it  ought 
to  lie  done,  and  no  one  else  appeared  inclined  to  do  it. 
I  have  no  hope  of  success  only  as  I  labor  on  my  knees. 

"I  have  recently  received  information  from  govern- 
ment, that  there  is  no  surveying  or  otl  er  business  that 


296  LIFE   OF   SPENCER    HOUGHTON   CONE. 

can  be  given  me  this  year  (1835).  I  am  now  consuming 
the  proceeds  of  a  little  property  that  I  owned  before  I 
became  a  missionary,  and  a  little  beqneathed  to  lis  by 
my  son  Bice,  neither  of  which  I  have  ever  supposed 
that  I  could  consume  without  great  injustice  to  the 
portion  of  my  family  which  is  still  dependent  upon  me, 
and  which  would  have  no  other  resources  in  the  event 
of  my  death." 

And  in  reference  to  the  effect  of  restricting  himself  to 
a  single  station : 

"Should  I  locate  within  an  Indian  tribe,  and  receive 
support  from  the  Board,  my  labors  would  become 
limited  to  that  tribe.  "With  the  views  which  the  Board 
possess,  I  could  do  nothing  for  the  promotion  of  the 
Indian  cause  generally.  My  influence  with  govern- 
ment would  be  destroyed.  Had  some  person  feelingly 
interested  in  the  welfare  of  the  Indians,  been  in 
Washington  during  the  session  before  last,  the  Bill  for 
the  organization  of  the  Indian  territory  would  probably 
have  passed." 

McCoy's  "History  of  Indian  Affairs,"  refers  constantly 
to  Mr.  Cone,  and  the  part  he  took  in  sustaining  the 
Indian  missionaries  and  their  cause. 

"  Rev.  Mr.  Cone,  of  In  ew  York,  was  a  friend  who 
never  forgot  us,  whether  we  were  near  or  far  off',  who 
kept  himself  informed  of  our  circumstances,  and.  whose 
generosity  was  equal  to  his  zeal. 

"  About  this  time  (September  1830),  we  had  become 
so  scarce  of  funds  that  we  were  obliged  to  borrow 
money  to  fit  out  Mr.  Lykins  for  Michigan,  and  for  the 
support  of  our  families,  though  I  hoped  to  be  able  to 
pay  out  of  my  earnings  from  government,  when  I 
fihould  receive  it.  Mr.  Cone,  knowing  that  we  must 
necessarily  be  scarce  of  funds,  and  that  we  were  in  a 
land  of  strangers,  wrote  us,  saying,  that  if  we  were  in 


LIFE    OF    SPENCER    HOUGHTON   CONE.  297 

want  of  funds  we  might  draw  on  him.  We  were  happy 
that  by  credit  in  our  place  we  were  not  under  the  neces- 
sity of  availing  ourselves  of  his  liberality.  Some  time 
afterwards  I  accepted  of  a  similar  oiler,  and  received  of 
him  a  considerable  sum,  all  of  which  I  was  afterwards 
enabled  to  return." 

We  are  sorry  that  we  have  been  unable  to  obtain  all 
Mr.  Cone's  letters  to  Mr.  McCoy ;  the  few  that  have 
been  put  at  our  disposal  through  the  kindness  of  the 
Rev.  J.  Lykins,  and  which  were  all  he  was  able  to 
collect  at  the  time,  relate  chiefly  to  business  matters 
connected  with  Indian  missions,  and.  would  probably 
not  be  generallv  interesting. 

None  of  Mr.  Cone's  many  addresses  on  the  subject 
were  ever  reported.  The  habit  of  reporting  the  pro- 
ceedings of  benevolent  societies,  is  indeed  of  very  recent 
date,  and  we  owe  its  benefits  entirely  to  the  enterprise 
of  the  American  newspaper  press.  To  the  casual  reports 
of  the  New  York  press,  made  for  the  purpose  of  placing 
before  their  readers  specimens  of  the  pulpit  oratory  of 
the  day,  by  distinguished  clergymen  of  different 
denominations,  we  owe  all  that  is  preserved,  of  the 
sermons  delivered  by  Mr.  Cone. 

Isaac  McCoy,  the  great,  intrepid,  and  devoted  friend, 
of  the  Indian,  and  faithful  servant  of  the  Cross,  died  in 
1846. 

Some  record  of  his  labors,  and  a  mine  of  information 
with  regard  to  the  native  red-men  of  the  American 
Forest,  are  preserved  in  his  "History  of  Indian  Affairs." 
His  appreciation  of  the  value  of  Mr.  Cone's  services  in 
the  cause  of  Indian  Missions  appears  from  its  dedica- 
tion : — 


13* 


298  LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 


SPENCER  HOUGHTON  CONE, 

President  of  the  General  Convention  of  the  Baptist 

Denomination  in  the  United  States,  for  Foreign 

Missions,   and  other  important   objects 

Relating   to    the    Redeemer's 

Kingdom, 

THE  CONSTANT  AND  ARDENT  FRIEND  OF  THE  INDIANS, 

and  for  the  last  twenty-five  years  the  efficient  promoter  of  their 

Temporal  and  Spiritual  welfare, 

The  following  pages  are  respectfully  inscribed  by 

THE    AUTHOR. 

Mr.  Cone,  writing  to  Mrs.  McCoy,  July  30th,  1816, 
says:  "Your  excellent  husband,  whom  I  truly  loved, 
has  been  taken  away ;  and  you  are  left  to  weep  as  others 
cannot  weep.  The  world  with  all  it  calls  good  or  great 
can  offer  you  no  consolation  :  but  there  is  a  Friend  who 
Bticketh  closer  than  a  brother.  Your  dear  McCoy  has 
obtained  his  discharge  from  the  militant  army  a  little 
sooner  than  we  have,  that  is  all ;  we  must  not  grieve 
that  he  is  happy  before  us,  having  joined  the  triumphant 
Host  above."     *     *     * 

In  this  brief  and  imperfect  sketch  of  the  labors  of 
Isaac  McCoy,  we  feel  the  delightful  assurance  that  we 
are  to  the  best  of  our  abilities  discharging  an  inherited 
duty.  It  was  an  often  expressed  sentiment  of  Mr. 
Cone's  heart,  that  American  Baptists  had  never  suf- 
ficiently appreciated  the  life-long  devotion  of  that 
li  friend  of  the  red-man,"  to  the  cause  of  Indian  Mis- 
sions. 


LIFE   OF    SPENCER    HOUGHTON    CONE.  299 


CHAPTER    XVII. 


FOREIGN   MISSIONS. 


On  the  occasion  of  Mrs.  Wade's  visit  to  Philadelphia, 

in  1834,  his  sister  Martha  writes  to  him,  "Mrs.  Wade 
told  me  you  were  a  dear  friend  of  hers  before  ever  you 
saw  her."     The  same  feeling  of  friendship  and  reliance 
possessed  the  hearts  of  almost  all  the  missionaries  in  for- 
eign lands.     His  whole  course  of  action  showed   them 
that  he  thought  for  them  as  he  would  for  himself;  and 
made  their  griefs,  and  wants,  and  trials  his  own.     From 
this  it  resulted  that  he  frequently  dissented  from  the 
"decisions  of  the  Acting  Board  at  Boston,  and  interposed 
his  influence  between  the  missionaries  and  it.    Whether 
separated  by  many  thousand  miles  of  ocean  from  the 
missionary,    or   in    daily    intercourse    with    the    Board, 
he  neither  forgot  the   one,  nor   allowed   himself  to  be 
unduly  influenced  by  the  other.    His  position  was  always 
that  of  mediator  and  peace-maker  in  every  difficulty  or 
misunderstanding    which    might    arise   between    them. 
His  heart  was  in  the  cause;  his  eye  glanced  over  all  the 
field  ;  and  he  viewed  the  whole  system  as  a  great  war, 
in  which  too  many  mighty  interests  were  involved,  to 
allow  any  trifling  or  unworthy  cause  to  disturb  the  har- 
mony of  its  combinations.     In  a  letter  to  Rev.  T.  T. 
Devan,  February  4th,   1850,  he  says,  in  reference  to 
united    effort,    "1  think  I   have   looked   over   all    this 
subject  for  many  years,    carefully.     I  have   occupied 
from  the  commencement  of  our  foreign  missionary  oper- 


300  LITE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

ations,  such  a  position  that  everybody  knew  I  would 
go  for  icnion,  and  were  there  now  anything  that  could 
be  construed  into  a  want  of  confidence  in  the  existing 
organization,  too  many,  alas  !  would  be  ready  to  say,  I 
pray  thee  have  me  excused."  At  the  same  time  he  felt 
that  every  missionary  was  a  fellow-soldier,  who  was 
nobly  offering  his  life  to  that  cause,  and  his  constant 
effort  was  to  keep  them  before  the  Board  in  that  light. 
Thus  writing  to  Dr.  Peck,  in  1841,  he  says,  "  It  is  and 
has  been  my  opinion  that  all  may  be  set  right  by  a  cor- 
respondence imbued  with  brotherly  love  ;  based  upon  the 
fact  that  missionaries  love  the  cause  of  missions  quite  as 
"well  as  those  who  remain  at  hqme  and  dwell  in  their 
own  ceiled  houses." 

It  appears  from  his  letters  that  he  constantly  urged 
wider  scope  of  effort,  and  the  occupation  of  every  field 
their  means  permitted.  He  was  for  no  tardy  or  hesitat- 
ing course.  He  was  not  willing  that  the  heathen 
should  be  left  to  perish  whilst  the  soldier  of  the  Cross 
spent  years  in  buckling  on  his  armor.  As  for  instance, 
in  a  letter  to  Dr.  Bolles,  dated  December  27th,  1830,  he 
says,  "  The  value  of  education  I  certainly  appreciate, 
and  think  a  preacher  of  the  Gospel  cannot  know  too 
much,  although,  it  sometimes  unhappily  occurs,  to  use 
the  language  of  L.  Richmond,  that  Christ  is  crucified  in 
the  pulpit,  between  the  classics  and  mathematics. 
Those  missionaries  destined,  like  Judson,  to  translate 
the  Word  of  God,  should  be  ripe  scholars,  before  this 
branch  of  their  work  is  performed ;  but  I  am  still  of 
opinion  that  the  learning  of  Dr.  Gill  himself  would  have 
aided  him  but  little,  had  he  been  a  missionary  to 
our  American  Indians." 

In  the  same  letter,  he  says,  "  I  drew  the  conclusion 
that  some  of  the  members  of  the  Acting  Board  are 
opposed  to  the  establishment  of  a  mission  in  Greece. 


LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE.  SOI 

I  regret  this  met  very  much.  We  are  commanded 
to  preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature.  Can  we  give 
any  good  reason  for  not  preaching  it  in  Greece?  The 
New  Testament  was  written  in  Greek;  a  large  propor- 
tion of  primitive  churches  were  planted  where  the 
language  was  spoken,  and  our  denominational  views  are 
evidently  strengthened  and  extended  by  an  acquaintance 
with  Greek." 

In  1831,  he  urges  also  the  planting  of  a  mission 
in  France,  and  indeed  procured  the  occupation  of  that 
field  and  the  appointment  of  the  first  Baptist  Missionary 
sent  there  by  the  Board,  Professor  Eostan,  to  whose 
talent,  ardent  piety,  and  reputation  as  an  able  expound- 
er of  the  Scriptures,  he  says,  the  most  competent  judges 
bear  high  testimony.  "  As  an  expounder  of  the  Word 
of  God,  he  was  considered,"  he  says,  "  by  foes  as  well 
as  friends,  one  of  the  most  gifted  and  powerful  men 
in  France.  He  has  the  boldness  of  a  Luther  in  his 
Master's  cause,  and  would  march  into  the  lion's  den 
without  flinching,  if  duty  called  to  the  enterprise." 
Such  men  he  loved. 

Hon.  Heman  Lincoln  says  of  Mr.  Cone,  "  He  was  one 
of  the  earliest  friends  of  Foreign  Missions,  and  uniformly 
manifested  the  deepest  interest  in  that  great  enterprise 
till  the  close  of  his  useful  life.  In  seasons  of  depression 
he  was  always  hopeful,  and  did  much  to  cheer  and 
encourage  the  hearts  of  his  brethren." 

We  have  said  elsewhere  that  he  had  many  of  the 
qualities  of  a  successful  general.  A  single  sentence  in 
one  of  his  letters  to  Dr.  Peck,  secretary  of  the  Board, 
shows  how  naturally  his  mind  threw  every  plan  into 
the  shape  it  would  naturally  take  in  that  of  a  captain. 
"  Your  principle  of  concentration,"  he  says,  "  I  approve. 
It  is  better  for  the  purpose  of  conquest,  to  have  one  post 
in  the  enemy's  country  which  we  can  maintain,  than 


302  LIFE   OF    SPENCEK   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

half-a-dozen   from  which  to  be  driven  one  after  ano- 
ther." 

The  same  quality  of  mind  gave  him  a  clear  view 
of  the  basis  upon  which  permanent  conquests  must 
be  founded,  lie  insisted  that,  "pure  translations"  of 
the  Sacred  Scriptures  must  be  made  for  every  people, 
among  whom  missionaries  were  sent,  without  a  moment's 
unnecessary  delay.  Thus  in  1844,  he  urges  upon  the 
Board,  through  its  secretary,  Rev.  R.  E.  Patterson,  the 
wisdom  and  necessity  of  taking  immediate  steps  to  perfect 
the  Chinese  version.  "Do  you  not,"  he  says,  "  consider 
Brother  Dean  a  good  Chinese  scholar?  Is  the  man  yet 
to  be  sent  from  the  United  States,  to  study  the  language 
and  some  fifteen  years  hence  furnish  us  with  a  transla- 
tion of  the  New  Testament?  I  think  it  of  immense 
moment  that  he  should  prosecute  this  business  of  circu- 
lating the  Sacred  Scriptures  in  China,  immediately  and 
vigorously.  If  we  are  to  wait  for  perfection  in  the 
translation  department,  this  generation  will  pass  away 
before  Baptists  are  ready  to  do  anything  more  than  pray 
that  the  great  wall  of  China  may  be  broken  down !  I 
look  over  our  convention  field,  and  find  the  living 
teacher  is  all  the  cry,  and  the  Bible  translated  may  be 
put  upon  the  shelf  until  a  more  convenient  season. 
There  must  be  some  new  light  upon  this  subject 
since  Thomas  exclaimed,  '  If  I  had  one  hundred  thou- 
sand pounds,  I  would  give  it  all  for  a  Bengalee  Bible.' 
Still  my  fixed  sentiment  is,  the  Bible  and  the  missionary 
must  go  together.  The  missionary  must  point  to  the 
"Written  Word  as  his  authority — thus  saith  the  Lord ! 
And  the  converts  among  the  heathen  must  have  the 
Scriptures  to  search — to  see  whether  the  missionary 
preaches  'flesh  and  blood,'  religion — the  religion  of  man 
or  the  religion  of  God.  I  am  the  more  impressed  with 
the  correctness  of  this  sentiment  from  the  fact — the  inel- 


LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE.  303 

anclioly  fact — that  a  great  many  preachers,  even  in  the 
United  Stales  at  this  time,  do  everything  in  their 
preaching,  except  explaining  to  the  people  '  God's  plan 
of  saving  sinners.'  The  time  has  emphatically  come 
when  men  must  be  directed  to  read  the  Bible  for  them- 
selves, and  make  it  the  lamp  to  their  feet  and  the  light 
to  their  path,  amidst  the  Lo  !  here  and  Lo !  there  of  liv- 
iiitj  teachers." 

One  other  feature  of  his  character,  and  which  marked 
it  as  that  of  a  man  (qualified  for  successful  leadership, 
was  his  attention  to  details.  lie  never  forgot  the  least 
minutiae,  or  apparent  trifles  connected  with  a  great  work. 
It  is  related  of  Napoleon,  that  he  often  terrified  com- 
misaries  and  clerks,  in  remote  parts  of  his  empire,  by 
having  them  suddenly  before  him,  and  showing  his 
intimate  knowledge  of  the  most  petty  accounts  kept  by 
them  ;  and  that  when  lie  was  making  combinations  to 
move  a  hundred  thousand  men  from  many  different 
points  widely  separated,  and  concentrate  them  upon  a 
single  one,  for  the  conquest  of  a  kingdom,  he  knew 
every  ration  of  biscuit  which  ought  to  be  supplied  at 
any  given  point  on  their  line  of  march,  and  was  par- 
ticular to  inspect  even  the  quality  of  the  shoe-strings 
furnished  by  the  contractors.  All  men  really  born  and 
qualified  for  command  possess  this  niceness  of  research, 
this  analytical  tendency  of  the  mind  to  dissect  the  greatest 
combinations,  and  examine  the  moral  or  physical  atoms 
of  which  they  are  composed.  This  was  very  strongly 
evinced  in  Mr.  Cone.  None  of  the  steps  or  minutiae  of 
a  plan  escaped  him.  He  reasoned  down  from  the  effect 
desired  to  the  smallest  thing  necessary  to  be  done,  as 
the  commencement  of  a  chain  of  sequences  leading  up 
to  it.  If  the  Bible  is  to  be  translated  and  published  in 
India,  he  immediately  examines  what  kind  of  press  is  the 
best  to  print  it  on  ;  how  paper,  ink,   type,  pressmen — 


30-i  LIFE   OF   SPENCEK   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

everything  are  to  be  got,  and  how  much  is  to  be  saved  by 
buying  in  one  market  instead  of  another.  For  instance, 
he  says  to  the  secretary  of  the  Board  in  1830:  "In 
writing  to  the  East,  will  you  ask  tor  definite  information 
touching  printing-ink,  paper,  &c. — whether  they  could 
not  be  sent  from  this  country,  of  better  quality  and  for 
less  money  than  they  can  be  obtained  in  Asia  ?" 

We  find  him  also,  in  1830,  suggesting  the  following — 
"  Our  domestic  cottons,  I  am  told,  are  better  and  cheaper 
than  those  of  the  East ;  could  not  some  pieces  be  sent 
out,  and  be  made  up  in  Burmah  ?"  A  pleasant  illus- 
tration of  how  he  loved  to  look  after  everything  for  the 
missionaries,  is  given  in  a  letter  to  Dr.  Peck,  of  July 
12th,  1813 — "  In  a  recent  communication  from  Brother 
Judson,"  he  says,  "  he  laments  the  loss  of  the  '  church- 
going  bell,'  from  his  Maul-main  Zayat.  Alas !  the 
clapper  was  too  heavy  and  cracked  the  bell,  so  that  it 
utterly  refused  thenceforth  to  send  out  any  pleasant 
sounds.  Hence,  take  warning,  good  people  all,  that  your 
hammers  are  not  too  heavy,  for  it  is  much  easier  to  crack 
a  bell  than  mend  it.  The  moral  of  this  history  is,  that 
Brother  Judson  wishes  me  to  send  him  another  bell,  and 
you  will  oblige  me  by  saying  when  you  expect  to  have 
an  opportunity  to  send  to  Burmah  V 

As  to  the  establishment  of  missionary  stations,  he 
says — "In  my  letter  to  the  committee,  as  a  member  of 
the  Board,  with  whom  they  expressed  a  strong  desire  to 
act  in  harmony,  I  gave  my  opinion  that  missionary 
stations  were  to  be  established  where  God  opened  the 
door — not  by  human  calculations :  that  great  cities 
were  to  be  entered  by  the  heralds  of  the  Cross,  when- 
ever the  way  was  open,  and  referred  to  the  Apostles — 
infallible  guides — in  Jerusalem,  Samaria,  Antioch,  the 
capitals  of  all  Asia  Minor,  Philippi,,  Rome,  &c,  and 
also  Calcutta,  Hamburgh,  &c,  in  modern  missions.  *  * 


LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE.  305 

I  see  a  great  work  to  bo  done.  We  must  he  more 
devoted — more  spiritually-minded — more  prayerful — • 
more  unselfish — or  I  fear  the  Muster  will  not  let  us  do 
it.  If  He  delights  in  us  for  His  dear  Sou's  sake,  then 
He  will  open  doors  in  His  providence,  which  no  man 
may  shut,  and  we  shall  enter  and  labor  until  He  shall 
choose  to  say  to  us,  one  by  one :  '  Child,  come  up 
higher.'  " 

We  have  attempted  to  give  a  few  extracts  from  his 
letters  on  missionary  subjects.  A  mere  glance  at  them 
is  all  that  can  be  ventured.  Covering  the  history  for 
denominational  effort  for  forty  years,  in  every  quarter  of 
the  globe,  a  fair  digest  of  them  would  constitute  of  itself 
a  larger  volume  than  the  present. 

We  can  also  barely  refer  to  the  great  and  successful 
effort  made  by  him  for  Oncken.  The  history  of 
Oncken's  struggles,  persecutions,  and  imprisonment  in 
Germany,  is  yet  fresh  in  the  minds  of  all.  Many,  too, 
remember  how  warm  the  friendship  which  subsisted 
between  Mr.  Cone  and  himself,  and  how,  when  Oncken 
was  persecuted  and  imprisoned  for  preaching  in  Luth- 
eran Germany  that  Baptism  was  immersion,  the  former 
devoted  his  entire  energies  to  effect  his  liberation,  and 
to  enlist  in  his  behalf  the  governments  of  the  United 
States  and  Great  Britain.  Our  space  permits  us  only  to 
allude  to  it.  His  efforts  to  raise  money  for  Oncken  and  the 
circulation  of  the  German  Scriptures  were  vigorous,  and 
continued  to  the  end.  After  Oncken's  visit  to  this 
country,  and  when  personal  acquaintance  ripened  admi- 
ration and  esteem  into  warm  Christian  friendship,  it 
may  easily  be  conjectured  that  those  efforts  lost  nothing 
of  their  vigor. 

Writing  in  1848  to  Eev.  T.  T.  Devan,  Mr.  Cone  says— 
"  You  will  perceive  that  we  are  making  a  strenuous 
effort  to  raise  at  least  $5,000  for  German  Scriptures,  to 


306  LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

be  printed  and  circulated  by  Brother  Oncken  and  his 
coadjutors.  We  raised  at  least  $1,000  in  the  First 
Church,  of  which  sum  C.  Thomas  pledged  $500. 
The  Lord  return  it  into  his  own  bosom  a  hundred- 
fold." 

The  following  interesting  review  of  his  connection 
with  missionary  operations  has  been  kindly  furnished 
by  Baron  StoAv,  I).  D.,  of  Boston.  He  says:  "  As  my 
intercourse  with  your  dear  father,  whether  personal  or 
by  correspondence,  related  mainly  to  missionary  matters, 
I  have  confined  myself  mostly  to  that  department. 

"  I  was  in  Europe  in  the  spring  of  1841,  and  therefore 
caii  furnish  nothing  from  personal  knowledge  of  the 
circumstances  touching  his  retirement  from  the  presi- 
dency of  the  General  Convention.  I  have  heard 
different  versions  of  the  matter,  and  never  had  any 
definite  impression  as  to  the  real  facts  in  the  case. 

"My  acquaintance  with  him  commenced  in  the  year 
1822,  when  he  was  pastor  at  Alexandria,  and  I  was  a 
member  of  the  Freshman  class,  in  the  Columbian 
College.  He  had  then  been  but  a  few  years  in  the 
Christian  ministry;  but  I  found  that  in  the  District  of 
Columbia,  and  in  Maryland  and  Virginia,  he  was  held  in 
high  estimation,  both  as  a  man  of  great  personal  excel- 
lence, and  as  an  eloquent  preacher.  Of  the  churches 
in  that  part  of  Virginia,  lying  between  the  Blue  Ridge 
and  the  Potomac,  he  was  not  far  from  being  the  idol. 

"  In  April,  1823,  the  Baptist  General  Convention 
held  its  Triennial  session  in  Washington.  Fifty-one 
delegates  were  present,  and  among  them  was  Mr.  Cone. 

Then  1  had  the  first  opportunit}T  to  see  proofs  of  that 
interest  in  Christian  Missions  for  which  he  was  so  lone; 
distinguished,  lie  was  not  a  member  of  the  Conven- 
tion at  Philadelphia,  in  1811,  but  at  the  next  session  in 
1817,   he    was   elected    a   member   of    the   Board    of 


LIFE    OF    SPENCER    HOUGHTON    CONE.  307 

Managers,  and  from  that  day  until  his  death  he  held 
some  important  office  in  the  institution. 

"  In  April,  1826,  the  Convention  met  in  Oliver  street, 
Kew  York,  where  Mr.  Cone  had  become  pastor.  In 
that  meeting  it  was  easy  to  perceive  the  growing 
influence  which  he  wTas  acquiring  amongst  his  brethren, 
and  to  anticipate  the  elevated  position  which  he  was 
destined  to  reach. 

"  Among  the  delegates  were  such  men  as  Semple, 
Stanford,  Mercer,  Maclay,  Staughton,  Rice,  Kendrick, 
Gano,  Bolles,  Going,  and  others,  his  seniors,  whom  all 
regarded  with  special  deference  ;  but  there  was  no  one 
whose  uttered  opinions  commanded,  more  general 
respect  than  those  of  Spencer  H.  Cone.  His  views  of 
missionary  policy  were  then  the  same  as  he  maintained 
to  the  last,  and  they  were  clearly  enunciated,  though 
uniformly  with  a  considerate  regard  to  the  opinions  of 
others.  At  that  session  the  Convention  cut  loose  from 
the  educational  interests,  with  which  for  nine  years  it 
had  been  encumbered  to  the  great  detriment  of  its 
missionary  operations.  In  effecting  that  divorce,  which 
was  not  accomplished  without  a  hard  struggle,  Mr. 
Cone  was  strenuously  active.  He  was  a  friend  of  the 
Columbian  College,  and  of  its  enterprising  founders  ;  but 
he  desired  a  Missionary  body  to  have  singleness  of 
object — 'the  diffusion  of  the  Gospel,  by  means  of 
missions,  throughout  the  world.' 

"I  had  often  heard  him  before,  and  have  often  heard 
him  since,  but  on  no  occasion  have  I  heard  him  plead 
so  eloquently  for  the  heathen,  as  during  that,  session  of 
the  Convention.  He  loved  the  cause  of  education,  but 
he  loved  the  great  work  of  evangelization  more,  and 
many  of  his  fervid  appeals  for  the  vigorous  prosecution 
of  the  latter ;  by  the  united  force  of  the  denomination  I 


SOS  LIFE   OF    SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

shall  never  forget.  His  spirit  seemed  to  me  to  be 
peculiarly  in  harmony  with  that  of  the  Apostles. 

"  In  1832,  he  was  elected  president  of  the  Convention  ; 
of  his  excellence,  as  a  presiding  officer,  it  would  be 
gratuitous  to  speak.  It  is  conceded  by  all  who  ever  saw 
him  in  the  chair.  He  was  always  self-possessed  ;  he  was 
familiar  with  rules  of  order ;  he  had  a  quick  perception 
of  the  right  and  the  wrong;  he  controlled  debate  within 
the  limits  of  Christian  courtesy;  he  made  no  mistakes; 
he  gave  no  offence. 

"  Such  were  uniformly  the  facts  as  they  came  under 
my  observation.  He  served  the  Convention  as  presi- 
dent during  three  consecutive  terms.  In  1811,  at  his 
own  suggestion,  the  office  was  filled  by  the  appointment 
of  another. 

"  I  well  remember  his  presence  and  labors  in  the 
session  of  the  Board,  at  Salem,  Mass.,  in  1833.  Then 
came  up,  for  the  first  time,  the  question  touching  trans- 
lations, and  we  had  the  first  development  of  his  theory, 
which  was  destined  to  a  prominent  place  in  his  subse- 
quent history.  Some  of  our  missionaries  in  South- 
Eastern  Asia  had  solicited  instructions,  as  to  whether 
they  should  faithfully  'translate,'  according  to  their 
apprehension  of  its  meaning,  the  whole  Bible,  into  the 
language  of  the  heathen,  or,  following  the  English 
version,  should  'transfer'  certain  words.  The  response 
was  given  at  that  meeting,  in  those  famous  resolutions, 
which  have  since  been  often  referred  to,  as  containing 
the  only  basis  on  which  translators  of  the  Word  of  God 
can  legitimately  proceed  with  their  work.  No  direc- 
tions were  given  as  to  the  translation  of  any  particular 
terms,  but  the  translators  in  the  service  of  the  Board 
were  enjoined  not  to  'transfer'  any  word,  which  could 
be  intelligibly  rendered  into  a  Heathen  tongue.  These 
resolutions    were    from    the    facile    pen   of    Professor 


LIFE   OF    SPENCER    nOUGHTON   C03TE.  309 

Knowles,  and,  after  an  able  advocacy  by  Mr.  Cone,  in 
which  there  was  a  foreshadowing  of  what  might  follow, 
thcv  were  unanimously  adapted. 

"  In  April,  1835,  the  Convention  met  at  Richmond, 
Virginia;  Mr.  Cone  preached  the  sermon  from  iJLord, 
what  wilt  thou  have  me  to  do?1  At  that  session,  the 
deputation  from  the  English  Baptists  was  present.  I 
well  recollect  the  profound  interest  felt  by  Mr.  Cone, 
when  one  of  them,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Iloby,  made  certain 
inquiries  touching  translations.  He  regretted  the  intro- 
duction <>f  the  subject,  for  he  apprehended  the  bearing 
which  the  discussion  might  have  upon  our  relations  to 
the  American  Bible  Society,  of  whose  board  he  was  an 
active  and  deeply-interested  member.  The  storm  was 
even  then  brewing  below  the  horizon,  which  he  foresaw, 
was  likely  to  come,  and  he  deprecated  any  premature 
agitation  of  the  subject.  By  skill  peculiarly  his  own, 
he  responded  to  Dr.  Iioby,  and  transferred  the  fuller 
explanation  to  a  private  interview. 

"  Allow  me  now  to  pass  over  the  next  ten  years,  which 
were  full  of  events  that  brought  him  prominently  for- 
ward as  a  leading  actor. 

"  To  records  in  your  possession  of  his  '  labors  more 
abundant.'  I  can  add  nothing. 

"  In  1845  occurred  the  disruption  of  the  General  Con- 
vention. Our  Southern  brethren,  dissatisfied  with  the 
answer  of  the  "  Acting  Board '  at  Boston,  to  certain 
inquiries  which  they  had  made,  withdrew,  and  formed 
a  separate  organization.  Mr.  Cone  regretted  the  sepa- 
tion ;  he  was  grieved  by  it ;  but  with  the  true  Christian 
spirit  he  adhered  to  the  great  enterprise,  and  continued 
to  work  with  the  brethren  at  the  .North,  whose  action  in 
that  case  he  disapproved. 

"  A  special  meeting  of  the  Board  was  held  in  Philadel- 
phia, in  September,  to  adjust  certain  relations  with  &**■ 


310  LIFE   OF    SPENCER   HOUGHTON    CONE. 

Southern  Convention,  and  to  deliberate  upon  questions 
of  future  policy.  The  General  Convention  held  its 
charter  of  incorporation  from  the  Legislature  of  Penn- 
sylvania; but  its  business  had  been  conducted  mostly 
in  the  District  of  Columbia  and  in  Massachusetts:  and 
it  was  more  than  probable  that  the  charter  was  null  and 
void. 

"At  that  meeting,  it  was  agreed  to  call  a  special  session 
of  the  Convention,  with  a  view  to  some  changes  in  the 
organization,  and  an  effort  to  obtain  a  new  act  of  incor- 
poration. Accordingly,  a  committee  of  nine  were  ap- 
pointed to  prepare  a  constitution.  Four  members  wer-e 
appointed  from  New  York,  one  from  Pennsylvania,  one 
from  Rhode  Island,  and  three  from  Boston.  Of  this 
committee,  Mr*.  Cone  'was  chairman,  and  he  proposed 
that  the  members  from  the  Middle  States  should  confer 
together,  and  propose  their  plan,  and  the  members  from 
New  England  should  do  the  same.  He  himself  drew  up 
the  form  of  a  constitution,  and  after  submitting  it  to  his 
associates,  forwarded  it  to  Boston.  A  form  was,  in  like 
manner,  drawn  up  in  New  England,  and  transmitted  to 
New  York.  The  two  were  widely  dissimilar,  and  a  cor- 
respondence ensued,  which  resulted  in  the  preparation 
of  two  new  forms,  which,  in  some  respects,  came  nearer 
together.  By  correspondence,  the  differences  were  still 
further  diminished;  but  on  some  points  there  was  a  very 
decided  disagreement. 

"At  length  the  committee  assembled  in  New  York  the 
day  previous  to  the  meeting  of  the  Convention.  Two 
plans  of  re-organization  were  presented  and  amicably 
discussed.  At  length  it  was  agreed  to  adopt  the  New 
England  plan,  with  some  modifications  proposed  by 
Mr.  Cone,  and  a  few  by  other  members.  The  result 
was  not  a  compromise  of  principles,  but  of  opinions,  re- 
specting the  best  form  of  machinery.     It  is  due  to  Mr 


LIFE   OF    SPENCER   HOUGHTON    CONE.  311 

Cone  to  say,  that  he  was  in  favor  of  a  more  simple 
organization,  as  better  suited  to  the  genius  of  the  de- 
nomination, and  less  likely  to  occasion  friction  against 
the  strong  democratic  element,  which  he  well  under- 
stood. But  with  the  adoption  of  several  of  his  pro- 
positions, he  came  cordially  in  with  his  brethren,  and, 
in  the  closing  prayer,  thanked  God  for  the  fraternal 
unanimity  that  had  been  reached.  As  secretary  of  the 
committee,  I  have  in  my  possession  the  documents,  and 
never  do  I  review  them  without  emotion,  at  the  remem- 
brance of  the  Christian  kindness  and  courtesy  manifested 
in  the  sessions  of  that  committee.  Concessions  were 
made  on  all  sides  ;  but  it  was  plain  to  all  that  the  greatest 
were  made  by  Mr.  Cone.  The  next  day  the  constitution 
was  reported  as  the  unanimous  product  of  the  commit- 
tee. Mr.  Cone  made  the  requisite  explanations,  and 
defended  every  article  and  every  provision  as  earnestly 
as  if  the  entire  instrument  had  been  his  own  favorite 
offspring.  The  committee,  knowing  his  preference  for 
something  different,  were  filled  with  admiration  at  the 
Christian  magnanimity  which  lie  there  exhibited.  I 
believe  he  never  altered  his  opinion  that  something  else 
would  have  been  better,  but  I  never  heard  of  his  utter- 
ing a  syllable  to  the  dispargement  of  the  constitution,  to 
whose  unanimous  adoption  he  contributed  more  largely 
than  any  other  man.  His  n<  ible  conduct  on  that  occasion 
fixed  him  a  place  in  many  hearts,  from  which  nothing 
has  since  occurred  to  dislodge  him.  Under  the  new 
organization,  he  worked  with  the  same  apparent  cordi- 
ality and  earnestness,  as  under  the  old. 

"  He  was  throughout,  a  consistent  supporter  of  the  mis- 
sionary enterprise.  He  raised,  mostly  by  personal  effort, 
and  paid  over  to  the  treasury,  more  money  than  any 
other  Baptist  pastor  in  the  United  States.  He  was  at 
once  the  friend  of  the  board  of  management  and  of  the 


312  LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGETON   CONE. 

laborers  in  the  foreign  field.  He  rejoiced  in  all  the 
reported  successes  abroad,  and  grieved  over  everything 
that  conduced  to  diminish  the  efficiency  of  the  enter- 
prise. His  heart  was  set  on  two  things — the  giving  of 
the  Bible,  faithfully  translated,  to  all  nations,  and  the 
publication  of  the  Gospel,  by  means  of  missions,  to  every 
unevangelized  people.  To  these  objects,  as  the  means 
of  gathering  in  God's  chosen,  he  devoted  his  life,  his 
thinking,  his  labors,  his  prayers.  Many  things  occurred 
that  occasioned  in  his  bosom  profound  anxiety  ;  but  he 
never,  under  the  most  trying  circumstances,  indicated  a 
wish  or  a  disposition  to  retire  from  the  service,  or  to 
withhold  the  helping  hand.  At  the  first  meeting  of  the 
Missionary  Union,  held  at  Brooklyn,  in  May,  1846,  one 
of  about  his  own  age,  who  had  from  the  begin?iing  been 
an  active  home  laborer,  signified  his  wish,  on  account  of 
advancing  years,  not  to  be  re-elected  to  an  office  which 
he  had  long  and  usefully  filled.  I  consulted  Dr.  Cone 
as  to  the  propriety  of  passing  a  resolution,  recognizing 
his  valuable  services,  and  expressing  regret  at  his  pur- 
posed retirement.  The  reply  was  characteristic — '  Why 
should  we  do  that?     If  you  will  offer  a  resolution  that 

Brother be  desired  to  continue  in  the  work  till  his 

Master  calls  him  home,  I  will  second  it  and  make  a 
speech.  I  have  enlisted  for  life  :  I  intend  to  die  with  the 
harness  on.' 

"  In  times  of  difficulty,  the  Acting  Board,  and  after- 
wards, the  Executive  Committee,  were  accustomed  to 
look  to  Dr.  Cone  for  counsel.  He  was  ever  prompt  to 
respond  and  to  render  any  assistance  in  his  power.  On 
more  than  one  occasion  were  his  services  of  special  value, 
and  in  few  places  was  his  removal  by  death  more 
seriously  deplored  than  at  the  Missionary  Kooms,  in 
Boston.  A  column  of  great  strength,  and  at  one  of  the 
most  important  points,  was  smitten  down  at  a  critical 


LIFE   OF   SPENCER    HOUGHTON   CONE.  313 

period,  and  we  felt  that  the  fabric  had  been  weakened. 
Few  will  do  for  the  general  cause  what  he  has  done. 

"  As  the  friend  and  supporter  of  foreign  missions,  hig 
memory  is  fragrant." 

We  have  taken  the  liberty  of  substituting  "Mr.  Cone,"  for  "your  father,"  in  many 
pi  ices  m  the  foregoing  valuable  eommunica  tion  of  Dr.  Su  w. — Eds. 

for  letter  of  President  Waylajv1,  see  Appe  ndix. 


1-i 


314  LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 


CHAPTER   XYIII. 

THE   BIBLE   AND   THE   AMERICAN  BIBLE    SOCIETY. 

Do  Baptists  preach  the  truth  ?  If  they  do,  and  it  be  right  to  preach  it, 
is  it  not  right  to  jorint  it  ? 

In  every  effort  to  circulate  the  sacred  Scriptures  he 
took,  not  only  a  lively  interest,  but  a  constant,  earnest, 
and  decided  part.  When  he  first  settled  in  New  York, 
and  for  twelve  years  and  upwards  after,  the  American 
Bible  Society  occupied  the  whole  field.  Almost  all 
evangelical  denominations  united  in  it.  Its  views 
appeared  large  and  catholic,  and  its  success  was  brilliant. 
The  resolution  upon  which  it  acted,  to  supply  every 
destitute  family  in  the  United  States  with  a  copy  of  the 
Bible,  elicited  the  admiration  of  the  Christian  world. 
Stretching  the  arms  of  its  benevolence  as  wide  as  the 
globe,  it  offered  to  almost  every  people,  amongst  whom 
the  missionary  penetrated,  in  their  own  tongue,  the 
inspired  record  of  the  wonderful  works  of  God.  Differ- 
ent sects  and  denominations  emulated  each  other  in 
swelling  its  treasury,  and  its  auxiliaries  sprung  up  in 
every  town.  In  this  good  work,  the  Baptists  of  America 
were  nothing  undervalued  to  the  most  ardent  and  gene- 
rous suppoiters  of  the  institution.  They  gave  every 
where  gladly.  It  was  a  cause  which  appealed  at  once 
to  their  principles  and  their  hearts.  The  Bible,  the  pure 
unadulterated  Word  of  God,  was  the  basis  of  the  Baptist 
faith  and  practice,  and  its  dissemination,  a  duty  springing 
naturally   and    inevitably    from    all    their    principles. 


LIFE   OF   SPENCEE   HOUGHTON"   COKE.  315 

"With  an  ungrudging  liberality,  therefore,  they  poured 
their  money  into  its  coffers. 

Mr.  Cone  very  soon  became  a  member,  and  before 
iong,  one  of  the  leading  workers  in  the  institution. 
There  as  elsewhere  his  willingness  to  work,  and  his 
capacity  to  work,  were  immediately  recognized,  and  a 
laboring  oar  put  into  his  hands.  Painstaking  and 
punctual,  as  well  as  intense  ;  practical,  and  methodical, 
as  well  as  impulsive — capable  of  not  only  taking  a  large 
view  of  the  scope  and  capacities  of  such  an  institution, 
but  also  of  grasping  all  the  minutiae,  he  made  himself 
rapidly  acquainted  with  every  part  of  the  mere  machi- 
nery of  its  operations.  At  the  same  time  his  mind 
busied  itself  with  all  the  possible  combinations  of  its 
powers,  and  having  once  mastered  the  mechanism  of  its 
action,  gave  it  its  true  place  and  value  as  a  mere  means 
to  the  one  great  end  of  the  conquest  of  the  world  for 
Christ.  Vast  and  imposing  as  it  was,  and  full  of  claims 
upon  the  respect  of  Christians,  his  mind  was  not  of  a 
character  to  be  influenced  by  its  apparent  magnitude 
beyond  a  certain  point.  That  point  was  the  division- 
line  between  truth  and  error.  So  long  as  he  believed  it 
to  be  the  exponent  of  the  truth,  he  was  ready  to  give 
heart  and  hand  to  its  service.  It  was  a  labor  he 
delighted  in.  lie  never  grew  weary  of  it ;  storm  and 
shine  found  him  at  his  post,  and  his  work  prepared  and 
arranged  for  meeting,  committee,  or  anniversary.  They 
depended  on  him,  and  calculated  upon  him  as  much  as 
upon  one  of  their  presses. 

In  1S33  he  was  elected  one  of  the  corresponding  sec 
retaries,  and  re-elected  in  183-1  and  1835. 

During  those  years,  however,  many  signs  made  it 
apparent  that  the  spirit  of  Pedo-Baptisin  would  not  long 
permit  its  union  with  Baptists,  even  in  the  work  of  giving 
the  Bible  to  the  heathen.     The  action  of  the  British  and 


316      •  LIFE    OF   SrENCER   HOUGHTON    CONE. 

Foreign  Bible  Society,  quickly  imitated  by  the  Ameri- 
can Bible  Society,  in  refusing  appropriations  for  transla- 
tions made  by  Baptist  missionaries,  precipitated  the  crisis. 

His  Baptist  coadjutors  in  the  society  at  this  time,  were 
Dr.  Maclay  and  Messrs.  Leonard  Bleecker,  Garret  1ST. 
Bleeeker,  William  Colgate  and  Timothy  K.  Green.  On 
him,  however,  as  both  able  and  willing  to  sustain  it,  the 
principal  weight  of  the  contest  was  thrown. 

"  The  Baptist  missions  in  India  were  commenced  by 
Carey  and  Thomas  in  1793.  From  their  commencement 
special  attention  was  paid  to  Biblical  translation,  and  Dr. 
Carey,  who  excelled  as  a  linguist,  executed  more  versions 
of  the  Sacred  Scriptures  into  foreign  languages  than  any 
other  scholar  of  any  age.  As  early  as  1S16,  the  number 
wdtolly  or  partially  completed  by  him  and  his  immediate 
associates  was  twenty-seven.  During  the  last  years  of 
his  life,  Dr.  Yates  was  his  associate,  and  was  his  successor 
in  the  same  employments  until  his  own  death  July  3d, 
1845.  The  latter,  in  addition  to  several  new  versions 
undertaken  and  partially  completed  by  him,  revised  and 
improved  the  most  important  of  Carey's  translations} 
especially  the  Bengali,  which  he  brought  to  so  high  a 
degree  of  accuracy  and  elegance,  as  to  command  the 
admiration  of  educated  natives,  and  of  foreigners  con- 
versant with  the  language." — The  Bible,  its  Excellence. 
By  Spencer  H.  Cone  and  William  II   Wyckoff. 

The  Rev.  Messrs.  Yates  and  Pierce  revised  and 
improved  the  Bengali  translation  of  the  New  Testament 
made  by  Dr.  Carey.  They  applied  to  the  British  and 
Foreign  Bible  Society  to  print  it.  Three  Pedo-Baptist 
missionaries  had  anticipated  their  application,  and 
informe  1  the  society  that  Yates  and  Pierce  had  transla- 
ted the  word  jSa-nr^w,  to  immerse.  The  British  and 
Foreign  Bible  Society  refused  to  print  it. 

Yates  and  Pierce  next  applied  to  the  American  Bible 


LIFE    OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON    CONE.  317 

Society.  Faithfully  copying  the  example  of  their 
British  Pedo-Baptist  brethren,  the  American  Bible 
Society  also  refused.  The  contribution  of  the  Baptists 
of  the  United  Slates  to  the  funds  of  that  society  had 
fallen  little  short  of  one  hundred  thousand  dollars.  Out 
of  this  the  society  had  appropriated  less  than  twenty-nine 
thousand  in  aid  of  the  translations  made  by  Baptist 
missionaries.  Yet  they  peremptorily  refused.  A  simple 
principle  of  honor,  it  would  seem,  ought  to  have  dictated 
a  different  course. 

The     committee    of    the    American    Bible    Society 
reported,  not  that  sprinkling,  pouring,  or  washing,  was 
the  true  translation,  and  immersion  a  false  one,  but  that 
it  was  ^inexpedient  to  appropriate  funds  in  aid  of  trans- 
lating or  distributing  any  version  containing  translations 
ot'  the  Greek  words  (iairrL^o  j3anrtana  and  their  cognates." 
Thus  the  rule  was  laid  down  that  translators  were  to 
manufacture  for  the   heathen  an   ingenious   mosaic  of 
Bengali  and  other  dialects,  "  cut  on  Greek  and  Latin." 
No  provision  being  made  for  the  concurrent  distribution 
of  Greek  grammars  and  lexicons  among  those  remote 
people,  the  question  among  Baptists,  who  are  a  common 
sense    sort   of  logical   folk,   naturally  arose:    how   are 
they  to  know  what  it  means;  and  if  our  missionaries  are 
to  teach  the  heathen  Greek  for  one  word.,  of  what  avail 
is  it  to  have  the  rest  in  the  vernacular  ?     Why  not  put 
the   Hindoos  to   their  Greek,  for  the   whole,   at  once? 
The  strangest  part  of  it  was,   that  the  refusal   to    aid 
translations  containing  the  word  immerse  was  confined 
strictly  to  those  made  by  Baptist  Missionaries.     The 
German  Bible,  and  the  Dutch  Bible,  circulated  amongst, 
and  read   by  many  millions,  had  it  so,  and  they  never 
thought  of  refusing  them.    The  shade  of  Luther  forbade 
it.    With  what  would  seem  to  be  a  strange  inconsistency, 
they  patronized,  a  version  which  translated  the  word  to 


318  LIFE    OF    SrENCEE   HOUGHTON    CCSTE. 

sprinkle;  and  published  Morrison's  Chinese  version 
which  had  it  "  to  make  a  wash."  It  was  something  noto- 
rious also,  that  learned  Chinese  pronounced  Morrison's 
version  "  an  unintelligible  jargon."  Whether,  viewed 
in  the  light  of  "  expediency,"  this  was  not  rather  a 
recommendation  than  otherwise,  as  rendering  it  homo- 
geneous with  the  practice  of  Greek  transfers,  and  very 
weighty  with  the  British  and  Foreign  and  American 
Bible  Societies,  their  actions  leave  but  little  doubt. 

Against  this  course  of  the  society,  Mr.  Cone  strove  so 
long  as  a  hope  of  arresting  their  unwise  and  unphilo- 
logical  tendency  remained.  He  had  recourse  to  every 
thing  that  argument,  entreaty,  or  Christian  sentiment 
could  suggest. 

He  urged  upon  them  the  fact,  that  the  uniform 
practice  of  Baptist  translators,  from  the  commencement 
of  the  missions  in  Asia,  was  to  translate  into  the  vernac- 
ular tongues  words  relating  to  baptism,  and  other 
"  ecclesiastical  "  terms,  as  some  have  denominated  them, 
and  that  this  practice  was  never  kept  secret,  but  was 
written  and  talked  about  publicly  and  privately,  with- 
out restriction — that  Rev.  Andrew  Fuller,  the  corres- 
ponding secretary  of  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society, 
in  1813,  in  answer  to  an  inquiry  of  the  secretary  of  the 
British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society,  had  replied,  "In  a 
letter  which  I  lately  received  from  Dr.  Carey,  he  men- 
tions having  received  one  from  you,  inquiring  in  what 
way  certain  words  were  rendered  in  their  translations. 
Flo  wished  me  to  inform  you  that  they  had  rendered 
PartTi^G)  by  a  word  that  signifies  to  immerse,  and  emoKOTrot, 
by  a  word  signifying  an  overseer."  He  further  urged 
that  the  American  Bible  Society,  with  the  full  knowl- 
edge of  all  these  facts,  had  aided  in  the  circulation  of 
these  translations,  and  if  it  now  refused  to  continue  such 
aid,  after  Baptists  had  contributed  so  largely  to  the  funds 


LITE   OF   SPENCER    HOUGHTON    CONE.  319 

of  the  society,  they  might  with  justice  complain  of  hav- 
ing been  lured  into  swelling  its  revenues  by  the  very 
natural  belief  that,  at  least,  a  reasonable  proportion  of 

that  revenue  would  continue  to  be  applied  to  transla- 
tions made  by  their  missionaries. 

He  showed  them  that  the  Galilean  version,  the  first 
made,  had  it  k>  immerse  ;"  and  as  Christ  preached 
in  Galilee  and  the  Apostles  were  yet  alive  when  it  was 
made,  and  probably  used  it,  it  was  the  next  best  author- 
ity to  the  inspired  original.  That  the  next,  the  Ethiopic 
version,  had  it  so  also.  That  all  the  original  Oriental 
versions  used  it.  That  the  society  published  and 
circulated  a  Roman  Gaaiulie  version  in  Spanish,  which 
translated  '"repent" — "to  do  penance" — and  "Jacob 
worshipped  the  top  of  his  8-taff" — instead  of  "Jacob  wor- 
shipped npon  the  top  of  his  staff."  Which  certainly 
Avas  an  indication  that  the  patronage  of  versions 
differing  from  the  English  was  not  contrary  to  their 
principles.  That  the  constitution  of  the  society  inter- 
posed no  obstacle.  That  their  decision  was  not  confined 
in  its  effect  to  the  versions  under  consideration,  but 
involved  principles  in  which  all  translators  of  the 
Scriptures  were  concerned.  That  they  were  about 
to  say  to  these,  either  that  they  must  faithfully  trans- 
mute the  Divine  original  into  the  current  coin  of  every 
human  language  ;  or  that  they  must  suppress  and  covei 
up  a  part  of  God's  truth. 

The  objection  that  Baptists  refused  to  employ  terms 
"unobjectionable"  to  other  denominations  had  no  force, 
for  two  reasons — first,  that  Pedo-Baptists  would  not 
abide  by  the  same  rule,  and  use  terms  "  unobjectiona- 
ble "  to  Baptists  ;  and  second,  that  on  this  point  there 
were  but  two  sects  in  the  whole  Christian  world, 
Immersionists,  and  Non-Immersion ists ;  Baptists,  and 
Pedo-Baptists.     That  it  was  not  contended  that   "im- 


320  LIFE   OF    SPENCEK    HOUGHTON    CONE. 

merse  "  was  a  false  translation,  but  merely  "objection- 
able." Why  objectionable?  Because  it  took  away  from 
a  human  ceremony  the  implied  sanction  of  Holy  Writ. 
The  question  then  resolved  itself  into  this — are  human 
opinions  to  control  the  Bible,  or  is  the  Bible  to  control 
human  opinions. 

Thus  the  great  issue  was  definitely  joined,  and  their 
heriditary  task  and  labor  of  love,  the  defence  of  the 
truth  against  human  inventions,  devolved  upon  Baptists. 
How  gallantly  and  fearlessly  they  undertook  and  carried 
it  through  in  the  United  States,  under  his  leadership,  we 
have  now  to  show. 

In  the  following  pages,  it  will  be  seen  that  we  are 
under  great  obligations  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Baker,  of 
Williamsburg,  New  York,  who  was  appointed  by  the 
Board  of  the  Bible  Union  to  prepare  an  address  com- 
memorative of  the  life  and  labors  of  Dr.  Cone,  especially 
as  the  staunch  friend  and  supporter  of  pure  versions  of 
God's  Word. 

The  Baptist  Missionaries  in  India,  early  distinguished 
themselves  as  translators  of  the  Scriptures.  No  censor- 
ship impeded  their  work.  They  sought  to  impress  upon 
their  translations  the  exact  meaning  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
in  the  original,  without  reference  to  human  dogmas  or 
disputes.  The  labors  of  Pierce,  Yates,  Judson  and  the 
rest,  attracted  the  warmest  sympathy  of  Mr.  Cone's 
heart.  He  seized  the  earliest  opportunity  for  its  expres- 
sion, and  at  the  meeting  of  the  Board  of  the  Triennial 
Convention,  held  in  Salem,  April,  1833,  he  prepared,  in 
conjunction  with  Professor  James  D.  Knowles,  resolu- 
tions affirming  it  to  be  the  duty  of  Baptists  to  sustain 
them,  and  of  the  Board  to  instruct  them  to  endeavor,  by 
earnest  prayer  and  diligent  study,  to  ascertain  the 
precise  meaning  of  the  original  text ;  to  express  that 
meaning  as  exactly  as  the  nature  of  the  languages  into 


LITE   OF    SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE.  321 

which  they  translated  would  permit,  and  to  transfer 
no  words  which  are  capable  of  being  literally  trans- 
lated." Mr.  Cone  was  at  that  time  a  member  of  the 
Board  of  managers  of  the  American  Bible  Society,  and 
immediately  hud  upon  its  table  a  number  of  copies  of 
the  resolutions. 

It  is  worthy  of  remark,  as  a  historical  fact,  that  Joseph 
Hughes,  a  Baptist,  was  the  most  active  founder  of  the 
British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  in  1804.  Prior  to 
the  founding  of  that  institution,  Baptist  translators  in 
India  had  translated  /3anrc^o)  and  its  cognates,  in  the 
exact  manner  afterwards  objected  to  by  that  body. 

After  their  refusal  to  patronize  such  versions,  Mr. 
Packard  of  Philadelphia  transmitted  to  the  American 
Bible  Society,  from  Pierce  and  Yates,  the  same  applica- 
tion. The  resolutions  of  refusal,  and  restriction  to  a 
copy  of  the  received  English  version  were  also  passed, 
as  we  have  seen,  by  the  latter  society.  Upon  the  pas- 
sage of  these  resolutions,  Rev.  Spencer  H.  Cone,  the 
dissenting  member  of  the  committee,  being  the  presi- 
dent of  the  general  Triennial  Convention  of  the  Baptist 
Denomination  in  the  United  States  for  foreign  missions, 
prepared  and  issued  an  address  to  that  body,  explaining 
the  action  of  the  American  Board,  and  requesting  the 
members  of  the  Convention  to  communicate  their  senti- 
ments upon  the  important  matters  thus  brought  before 
them,  at  the  meeting  of  the  Foreign  Board  at  Hartford, 
in  April,  1836.  Protests  embracing  the  most  weighty 
arguments  against  the  resolutions  were  presented  at  the 
American  Board,  but  notwithstanding,  the  resolutions 
were  confirmed  by  the  society  at  its  next  anniversary, 
May,  1836. 

The  preliminary  discussions  of  the  question  had 
attracted  public  attention.  The  Baptist  and  Pedo-Baptist 
world    were    equally    interested    and    excited.      The 

14* 


822  LIFE   OF    SPENCEK    HOUGHTON   CONE. 

anniversary  was  held  in  the  Broadway  Tabernacle,  and 
that  immense  hall,  capable  of  seating  from  four  to  five 
thousand  persons,  was  crowded  to  its  utmost. 

The  platform,  and  the  seats,  which  rise  tier  on  tier 
behind  it,  were  filled  with  the  vice-presidents,  managers, 
and  directors  of  the  American  Bible  Society.  The  most 
eminent  talent  of  the  Pedo-Baptist  side  was  present,  and 
prepared  for  the  contest.  Judges  and  governors, 
senators,  and  lawyers  of  fame,  swelled  the  array. 
Against  the  decision  of  its  Board,  the  Baptists  had 
appealed  to  the  annual  meeting;  and  alone  against  the 
host  of  Pedo-Baptist  talent  and  knowledge,  Spencer  II. 
Cone  stood  up  as  the  champion  of  his  people  and  of  the 
truth  for  which  they  lived.  Speech  after  si^eech  was 
levelled  against  him.  Hhetoric  and  argument,  menace 
and  entreaty ;  the  most  specious  appeals  and  considera- 
tions were  urged  upon  him.  His  denomination  and 
himself  were  made  the  mark  of  a  thousand  arrows  of 
subtlety,  wit,  and  declamation. 

Time  has  effaced  most  of  these  efforts  from  our 
memory.  Some,  however,  made  an  impression  which 
nothing  can  wipe  out.  We  forget  the  name  of  the  last 
gentleman  who  spoke  on  the  Pedo-Baptist  side  of  the 
question,  in  defence  of  the  course  pursued  by  the 
American  Bible  Society.  He  was,  we  think,  a  senator 
from  one  of  the  Eastern  States.  The  point  of  his  speech 
was  this  :  Christians  are  a  great  army,  arrayed  against 
the  evil  which  is  in  the  world.  Their  warfare  is  perpe- 
tual. Every  day  finds  them  compelled  to  face  the 
enemy.  And  when  we  see  the  army  drawn  up  in 
battle  array  ;  the  enemy  in  front ;  the  fierce  tug  of  war 
on  the  point  of  commencing — what  must  we  think  of 
that  regiment  which  wheels  out  of  line,  and  abandons 
the  field,  leaving  the  rest  of  the  army  to  fight  the  battle 
alone?     And  should  a  regiment  be  guilty  of  such  an 


LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE.  323 

act,  will  not  every  true-hearted  soldier  step  ont  of  its 
flying  ranks,  and  tailing  into  the  line  again,  stand  to  his 
arms  until  the  fate  of  the  battle  is  decided  ? 

The  instant  he  closed,  Mr.  Cone  was  on  his  feet.  He 
stood  upon  the  left  hand,  on  the  front  of  the  platform. 
High  excitement,  and  the  vast  responsibility  which 
weighed  upon  him,  lent  a  more  than  ordinary  grandeui 
to  his  carriage,  and  an  added  power  to  his  voice.  He 
was  the  living  embodiment  of  a  great  orator,  and  before 
the  words  formed  upon  his  tongue,  an  intense  and 
breathless  silence  pervaded  the  house,  and  every  eye 
was  fastened  upon  him. 

"  Mr.  Chairman,"  he  said,  not  loud,  but  with  that 
wonderful  clearness  of  enunciation  and  concentration  of 
manner  which  seems,  as  it  were,  to  drive  every  word 
directly  into  the  hearts  of  an  audience— "Mr.  Chairman: 

'  There  is  a  tide  in  the  affairs  of  men 
Which  taken  at  the  flood  leads  on  to  fortune; 

Neglected,  all  our  lives  afterward 

Are  bound  in  shallows  and  in  miseries.' 

"  On  that  tide  my  denomination  is  launched.  It  has 
risen  to  their  feet.  It  commands  them  to  embark.  They 
dare  not  disobey  the  God  they  serve.  They  dare  not 
cover  up  His  truth,  forsake  high  fortune,  and  incur  the 
just  retribution  of  being  bound  in  shallows  and  in  mis- 
eries all  their  life  after.  Sir,  I  love  the  army,  but  I  love 
my  regiment  better,  and  whether  they  fall  amid  the 
mountains  of  America,  or  on  the  plains  of  Burmah, 
I  fall  with  them." 

The  remainder  of  the  speech,  or  rather  the  words  in 
which  it  was  couched,  have  faded  from  memory.  It  was 
devoted  to  I  he  argument,  and  put  in  clear,  bold  terms 
the  principles  of  Baptists  on  the  subject  of  Bible  trans- 
lations, and  their  resolve,  with  God's  help,  to  give  His 


324  LIFE   OF   6PENCEK   HOUGHTON    CONE. 

"Word  literally  to  men.  Its  effect  upon  the  audience 
was  to  elicit  repeated  applause,  which  was  checked 
by  the  presiding  officer  as  improper  in  such  a  place. 
His  appearance  and  manner,  on  that  and  similar  occa- 
sions, were  such  as  to  command  a  peculiar  attention 
from  the  people.  It  was  frequently  and  admiringly 
remarked  by  preachers  and  public  men.  Characterized 
by  entire  freedom  and  grace,  without  being  open  to  the 
censure  of  effort  after  effect,  the  eye  and  ear  received 
equal  pleasure.  The  platform  was  evidently  a  place  on 
which  he  felt  perfectly  at  home.  It  put  no  barrier 
between  him  and  the  people.  He  could  speak  right 
at  them  from  it.  He  always  stepped  forward,  cleared 
himself  of  everything,  and  stood  before  them  with  the 
cause  he  had  to  advocate,  living  and  breathing  in  every 
motion  of  the  body  and  intonation  of  the  voice. 
Preachers,  from  the  habit  of  being  shut  up  in  a  desk, 
very  commonly  feel  ill  at  ease,  and  out  of  place,  when 
brought  into  full  relief  upon  the  platform.  Many  of 
them  remarked  the  fact  to  him,  and  said,  they  envied 
his  happy  self-forgetfulness  and  freedom.  Undoubtedly 
early  training  had  a  great  deal  to  do  with  it,  but  intense 
interest  in  his  subject,  and  its  aim  had  more.  Like  the 
patriot  soldier,  his  "  cunning  of  fence  "  was  a  mere 
subordinate  matter,  the  servant  of  a  great  design. 

In  spite  of  protest,  argument,  and  eloquence,  however, 
the  society  affirmed  the  action  of  its  Board,  and  by 
an  arbitrary  exertion  of  the  law  of  might,  exiled  the 
Baptists  from  its  ranks. 

During  the  preliminary  discussions  in  that  society,  the 
brunt  of  the  battle  was  borne  by  Dr.  Maclay  in  the 
Board  of  managers,  and  by  Mr.  Cone  in  the  committee. 
He  was  the  only  Baptist  in  the  committee,  and,  as  such, 
prepared  and  presented  the  protest  against  its  action. 
In  that    protest    he  demonstrated  that  the  principle 


LITE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON    CONE.  325 

sought  to  be  laid  down  by  the  society  was  radically 
wrong.  That  it  was  not  competent  for  it  to  control  the 
consciences  of  well  qualified  Evangelical  missionaries, 
or  decide  what  words  they  should  transfer,  and  what 
translate.  That  if  the  society  can  make  an  arbitrary 
rule  for  one  word,  it  may  for  all.  That  the  pervading 
sentiment  of  the  majority  was  inconsistent  with  the 
spirit  of  brotherly  kindness  and  benevolence  in  which 
the  society  originated.  That  it  specially  singled  out 
Baptists  as  unworthy  to  co-operate  with  other  denomi- 
nations, and  placed  upon  them  an  unjust  stigma.  That 
to  avoid  this  they  offered  them  the  impracticable  alter- 
native of  forbearing  to  do  what  they  believed  God 
required  at  their  hands.  That  the  words  baptize  etc., 
had  been  rendered  by  words  signifying  to  immerse  in 
Syriac,  Arabic,  Abyssinian,  Ethiopic,  Egyptian,  Coptic, 
German,  Dutch,  Danish,  and  other  languages,  and 
therefore,  it  was  not  fair  or  just  to  stigmatize  our  trans- 
lations as  sectarian,  when  similar  translations  have  been 
long  in  use  in  almost  all  the  churches  of  the  Eastern 
world,  and  in  most  of  the  churches  of  Northern  Europe." 

The  protest  was  in  vain.  Pedo-Baptism  was  alarmed, 
and  fear  obscured  reason  and  justice.  The  question 
with  them  was  no  longer  obedience  to  God,  but  how  to 
guard  and  defend  the  human  system  to  which  they  were 
committed.  Mr.  Cone  immediately  issued  an  address 
"  to  the  General  Convention  of  the  Baptist  Denomination 
in  the  United  States  for  Foreign  Missions,"  and  asked 
them  to  come  to  the  meeting  of  its  Board  at  Hartford, 
prepared  to  consider  the  subject  of  the  duty  of  Ameri- 
can Baptists  in  the  crisis. 

The  following  statement  in  reference  to  the  course  of 
Dr.  Cone  in  the  controversy  with  the  American  Bible 
Society,  was  communicated  to  Dr.  Baker,  by  Deacon 
William  Colgate,  of  New  York. 


326  LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

On  leaving  the  committee  to  which  the  letter  of 
Pierce  and  Yates,  touching  the  Bengali  version,  had 
been  referred,  Dr.  Cone  called  on  Deacon  Colgate,  and 
in  stating  the  case  to  him,  spoke  as  follows  : 

"I  presume  nothing  will  be  given.  Shall  I  let  it 
go  by  ;  or  shall  I  say — '  the  application  shall  not  be 
refused,  on  the  ground  of  these  words  being  translated, 
without  first  referring  the  matter  to  the  Board  V  " 

To  this  question  Deacon  Colgate  replied,  by  ask- 
ings 

"  Do  you  put  this  question  in  order  to  ascertain  what 

I  think  on  the  subject,  or  do  you  ask  it  that  my  answer 
may  be  a  guide  to  your  action  in  the  committee  ?" 

Dr.  Cone  replied : 

"  I  ask  your  opinion  that  it  may  guide  me  in  my 
course  in  that  committee." 

"  Then,"  said  Deacon  Colgate,  "  this  is  probably  the 
most  important  question  ever  put  to  me,  and  I  should 
not  think  of  answering  one  of  such  importance  without 
taking  time  for  reflection  and  prayer." 

"I  will  call  then  some  time  next  week  for  your 
opinion,"  said  Dr.  Cone. 

The  next  week  he  called,  and  the  conversation,  as  near 
as  it  can  be  recollected,  was  as  follows.  Deacon  Colgate 
remarked, 

"  That  we  Baptists  who  were  members  of  the  Board 
of  the  American  Bible  Society,  were  looked  to  as  repre- 
senting our  denomination,  and  in  this  view,  our  position 
became  very  important  and  responsible  ;  and  that  if  we 
or  our  denomination  should  be  found  guilty  of  clouding 
or  changing  in  any  way,  God's  communication  to  men, 
it  would  be  criminal  in  the  sight  of  God  and  man.  Yet 
if  this  be  brought  before  the  Board,  it  will,  in  all  proba- 
bility, produce  a  painful  controversy,  and  our  own 
denomination  will  probably  be  less  respected,  and  our 


LIFE   OF    SPENCER   HOUGHTON    CONE.  327 

friends  on  the  Board  be  highly  censured.  Yet  the  prin- 
ciple of  right  demands  this  course  at  our  hands,  in  my 
opinion." 

Dr.  Cone  replied  : 

"I  fully  agree  with  }tou  in  that  sentiment." 

Deacon  Colgate  then  reminded  him  that  the  Baptists 
in  the  Board  were  few  in  number  ;  that  the  members  of 
other  denominations  were  numerous,  talented,  and 
highly  respectable.  Now  if  you  take  this  stand,  will 
you  be  firm  in  carrying  it  through  ?" 

Dr.  Cone  replied  with  much  firmness,  and  at  some 
length  to  this  effect: 

"  If  I  take  my  stand  upon  a  principle  established  by 
my  Master,  you  know  I  am  not  to  he  moved. 

Deacon  Colgate  again  reminded  him — "That  before 
such  an  array  of  character  and  talent,  few  have  been 
found  who  have  not  faltered  in  the  trial  when  hard 
beset." 

Dr.  Cone  replied  : 

"  That  having  been  brought  into  a  position  where  the 
eyes  of  the  Lord,  and  of  Baptists  were  upon  him,  he 
would  never  falter  while  he  had  God's  truth  to  stand 
on." 

Confident  in  the  propriety  of  his  course,  and  fortified 
in  the  resolution  to  pursue  it,  by  the  advice  of  such  men 
as  Colgate,  Maclay,  Kendrick,  and  others,  he  buckled 
on  his  harness,  and  marched  forward  to  the  conflict. 
That  it  would  be  no  ordinary  one,  the  magnitude  of  the 
interests,  and  the  character  of  the  men  concerned  in  it, 
made  it  evident.  It  is  no  small  honor  to  him  that  against 
every  odds,  and  Avithout  even  the  hope  of  success  to  cheer 
him,  he  fought  it  to  the  last  in  the  American  Bible 
Society,  and  yielding  at  last  to  the  force  of  numbers, 
instead  of  entertaining  for  a  moment  the  idea  of  abandon 
ing  the  field,  like  an  able  general  diverted  the  attention 


328  LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

of  the  enemy  by  alarms  and  skirmishes,  until  he  could 
bring  up  his  reserves,  and  renew  the  battle  upon  a  more 
impregnable  position.  To  his  thinking  the  battle  for 
truth  was  never  lost.  Her  soldiers  might  be  worsted, 
and  suffer  a  temporary  defeat;  but  as  long  as  life  lasted 
there  was  always  time  to  strike  for  and  retrieve  the 
victory.  Thus,  instead  of  losing  a  moment  in  mourning 
over  the  action  of  the  American  Bible  Society,  his 
thoughts  were  busy  with  plans  for  a  remedy.  Baptists 
were  right.  They  had  the  truth,  they  knew  it.  They 
must  stand  by  it,  no  matter  what  men  did.  They  must 
support  their  missionaries.  It  was  God's  work,  and 
God's  work  must  go  on.  Nothing  was  needed  but  an 
ordinary  executive  machinery.  That  must  be  put 
together  without  loss  of  time.  The  past  was  irretrieva- 
ble. They  might  regret  it.  Time,  however,  was  too 
short,  and  there  was  too  much  to  be  done,  to  waste  an 
hour  in  useless  sorrow.  They  must  act.  A  Bible 
Society  to  sustain  pure  versions  must  be  formed  without 
delay.  He  went  right  at  it.  Tasked  his  mind  to  it. 
Aroused  them  to  its  necessity.  Put  the  ball  in  motion  ; 
touched  all  the  chords  which  answered  to  the  keys  of  his 
wide  correspondence  with  every  State  and  district  in  the 
Union  ;  and  backed  by  the  manifest  justice  and  truth  of 
his  position,  found  himself  at  Hartford,  Conecticut,  sup- 
ported by  an  almost  unanimous  voice  of  the  denomina- 
tion, in  the  design  of  forming  a  new  Society.  Five  votes 
only  were  cast  in  the  negative.  It  was  resolved  "  that 
it  is  expedient  to  call  a  convention  of  delegates  from 
churches,  and  associations,  and  other  religious  bodies,  to 
meet  in  Philadelphia  in  1837,  to  adopt  such  measures, 
as  circumstances,  in  the  providence  of  God,  may 
require." 

The  majority,  amongst  whom  was  Dr.  Cone,  expressed 
their  opinion  in  private  that  a  convention  ought  to  be 


LIFE   OF    SPENCEK   HOUGHTON    CONE.  329 

called  immediately  after  the  animal  meeting  of  the 
American  Bible  Society,  unless  that  society  rescinded 
the  resolution  of  their  board  of  managers  not  to  aid 
translations  made  by  Baptist  missionaries.  So  soon  as 
the  society  approved  the  coarse  of  its  Board,  it  was 
evident  to  this  majority  that  to  postpone  their  action 
until  1837,  was  an  unnecessary  delay.  The  Board  of 
Missions,  by  resolution  passed  February  17th,  1836,  con- 
tinued them  in  this  opinion. 

A  large  number  of  delegates  met,  therefore,  in  Oliver 
street  meeting-house,  where  he  then  preached,  on  the 
12th  of  May,  1836,  and  formed  a  provisional  organiza- 
tion for  Bible  translation  and  distribution.  Of  this 
organization  Mr.  Cone  was  chosen  the  president.  On 
Wednesday,  April  26th,  1837,  the  Convention,  pur- 
suant to  the  call  of  the  Hartford  meeting,  met  in  Phila- 
delphia. After  several  days  of  able  discussion,  in  which 
every  point  of  the  controversy  was  brought  out,  the 
action  of  Mr.  Cone  and  his  colleagues  in  Oliver  street, 
during  the  previous  May,  was  confirmed,  the  provisional 
organization  made  permanent,  and  the  American  and 
Foreign  Bible  Society  definitely  constituted.  Among 
the  ablest  debaters,  and  most  determined  and  unflinch- 
ing advocates  of  the  creation  of  that  society,  were  the 
Eev.  Messrs.  Bartholomew  T.  Welsh,  John  Dowling, 
and  others,  who  have  not  been  since  willing  to  carry 
out  opinions  then  expressed  to  their  legitimate  conclu- 
sion. Dr.  Welsh  said,  eloquently—"  It  had  been  said 
we  were  leaving  the  American  Bible  Society.  lie,  on 
the  contrary,  believed  they  were  leaving  us.  Another 
charge  which  has  been  alleged  against  us  (said  Dr. 
Welsh),  is  that  of  sectarianism.  If  to  adhere  to  the 
truth;  if  to  prefer  allegiance  to  the  throne  of  Jesus 
Christ ;  if  to  regard  the  integrity  of  His  institutions  and 
the   purity   of    His   Word,   be   sectarianism,   then   let 


330  LIFE    OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON    CONE. 

sectarianism  be  written  on  my  brow  in  indelible  charac- 
ters; then  let  bigotry  be  connected  with  it  in  all  its 
odious  forms.  And  I  would  wear  the  stigma  till  death 
should  obliterate  it!" 

The  following  letter  to  Dr.  Dagg,  dated  May  21st, 
1836,  serves  to  explain  the  motives  which  governed 
Mr.  Cone  in  the  formation  of  the  American  and  Foreign 
Bible  Society  in  Oliver  street. 

"I  received,''  he  says,  "the  joint  communication  of 
Brethren  Brantley,  Dagg,  and  Babcock,  and  answered 
yesterday  'calamo  currente.'  To-day  I  have  leisure  to 
add  a  few  thoughts  to  you. 

"The  board  of  managers  of  the  Baptist  General  Con- 
vention passed  no  opinion  upon  the  Bible  question.  It 
was  a  subject  they  refused  to  entertain.  Had  they 
responded  to  the  call  of  the  president  of  the  Convention 
(himself),  and  disposed  of  the  question  by  resolution  or 
otherwise,  it  would  have  been  the  official  act  of  a  Board, 
representing  the  only  organized  Baptist  body,  of  a 
general  character,  in  the  United  States,  and  as  such 
would  have  been  weighty  and  important ;  but  the  Hart- 
ford conference  could  speak  only  for  itself,  and  not  for 
the  Denomination,  and  its  resolutions  were  entitled  to 
no  further  general  respect  than  their  own  intrinsic 
excellency  and  fitness  might  demand. 

"The  Oliver  street  Convention  was  a  much  larger 
body — many  of  its  members  were  expressly  sent  by 
Baptist  churches  and  associations,  to  form  a  Bible 
society  immediately,  if  the  American  Bible  Society  did 
not  rescind  the  resolutions  of  February  17th,  1836,  and 
a  much  larger  amount  of  information  upon  the  Bible 
question  was  before  the  meeting  than  at  Hartford. 
They  were  satisfied  fully,  from  circumstances  before  them 
on  the  12th  of  May,  that  it  was  pleasing  to  God  and  to 
the  great  mass   of  Baptists  who   take   an   interest  in 


LIFE    OF    SPENCER    HOLGHTON    CONE.  331 

Bible  translation  and  distribution,  ft?  go  forward,  and 
they  did  so  in  the  name  of  the  Lord.  The  eight  or  ten 
brethren  who  were  in  Oliver  street  as  well  as  at  Hart- 
ford, never  dreamt  of  being  so  pledged  by  the  resolu- 
tions of  one  conference,  as  to  prevent  them  acceding  to 
those  of  the  other.  We  have  committed  no  sin  against 
our  brethren,  but  acted  according  to  the  light  given  to 
us,  and  the  peculiar  circumstances  of  the  day,  and  hope 
that  all  appearance  of  collision  and  discrepancy,  which 
indeed  refer  almost  exclusively  to  time,  may,  by  proper 
explanations,  be  entirely  removed,  and  'audi  alteram 
partem,'  contains  a  sentiment  that  we  are  none  of  us, 
I  trust,  disposed  to  disregard. 

"I  have  not  the  minutes  of  the  conference  before 
me,  and  write  from  memory,  but  as  I  drew  ap  the  reso- 
lutions, I  think  these  were  about  the  words  of  one  of 
the  last,  which  was  passed  unanimously;  viz: — ■ 

"'Resolved;  that  the  first  anniversary  be  held  in 
Philadelphia,  the  last  Wednesday  ot  April,  1837,  when 
a  report  of  the  doings  of  the  society  shall  be  laid  before 
a  convention  to  be  then  and  there  assembled  from  dif- 
ferent parts  of  the  United  States,  for  the  purpose  of 
securing  the  united  and  concent/rated  action  of  our  whole 
denomination  in  the  Bible  cause.' 

"This  resolution  was  supposed  to  be  so  strong  and 
unequivocal  as  to  show  clearly  our  intentions,  and  save 
us  from  the  charge  of  disregard  to  the  feelings  of  our 
brethren,  or  an  unwillingness  to  submit  to  the  voice  of 
the  majority,  whenever  properly  and  plainly  expressed. 
As  far  as  I  am  personally  concerned,  I  assure  you  1  had 
much  rather  escape  from  the  presidential  chair,  than 
occupy  it,  and  I  had  rather  the  seat  of  the  society's 
operations  should  be  Philadelphia  than  New  York,  if 
competent  brethren  there  would  undertake  its  manage- 
ment ;  for  here  we  have  societies  enough  already. 


332  LIFE   OF   SPENCER    HOUGHTON   CONE. 

"After  all,  what  worse  can  you  say  of  us,  than  that 
we  were  willing  to  encounter  a  responsibility  and  labor 
that  nobody  else  was  willing  to  touch,  and  though  dear 
Brother  Sharp  said  'we  had  not  the  men,'  we  hope,  by 
the  assistance  of  our  Heavenly  Father,  that  we  shall 
prove  that  he  was  mistaken  on  a  Bible  question  for  once 
at  least  if  no  more. 

Dr.  Dagg,  says  in  reference  to  this : 

"  In  the  discussions  at  Hartford,  Dr.  Sharp,  who  was 
opposed  to  the  forming  of  a  new  society,  assigned  as  a 
reason  that  we  had  not  the  men  to  manage  it.  How 
greatly  he  mistook  the  ability  of  our  New  York  brethren, 
especially  that  of  Brother  Cone,  for  conducting  such  an 
enterprise,  the  event  fully  demonstrated.  The  new 
society  went  forward  with  astonishing  success ;  and 
much  of  that  success  is  doubtless  to  be  attributed  to  the 
wisdom  and  energy  of  him  who  so  long  presided  over 
it. 

"  The  question  as  to  the  time  of  organization,  which 
at  first  produced  some  difficulty,  was  amicably  settled, 
and  the  American  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  received 
a  cordial  support  from  the  Baptists  throughout  the 
United  States,  with  but  few  exceptions.  Brother  Cone, 
at  the  head  of  the  society,  enjoyed  a  high  degree  of 
popularity  ;  but  it  pleased  Infinite  Wisdom  to  render  his 
relation  to  this  society  one  of  the  severest  trials  that  he 
ever  endured.  His  withdrawal  from  it,  and  the  forma- 
tion of  the  American  Bible  Union,  are  facts  which  I  leave 
others  to  record.  Many  who  loved  and  honored  him, 
did  not  fully  concur  in  this  movement;  and  of  this 
number  I  was  one.  It  gives  me  great  pleasure,  how- 
ever, to  say,  that  I  honor  the  principles  which  governed 
him,  and  the  motives  by  which  he  was  actuated  ;  and 
to  express  the  hope  that  the  result  may  prove  his 
superior  wisdom." 


LIFE    OF    SPENCER    HOUGHTON    CONE.  333 

In  August,  1837,  he  writes  to  Dr.  Dagg  on  the  same 
subject,  from  Schooley's  mountains: 

"I  have  been  rusticating  for  ten  days  among  the 
mountains  of  my  native  State,  and  feel  somewhat  recruit- 
ed both  in  body  and  mind. 

"  The  last  year  has  multiplied  my  avocations,  and 
some  of  them  have  been  sufficiently  exciting.  I  have 
laid  too  much  to  heart  the  opposition,  and  I  could 
almost  say,  persecution,  which  some  of  our  good  breth- 
ren have  exhibited  towards  our  Bible  Society  ;  and  the 
decision  of  the  Philadelphia  Convention  seems  to  have 
no  influence  upon  their  course.  Still  they  insist  upon 
it,  that  a  distinct  Bible  organization  is  unnecessary  and 
most  inexpedient,  and  must  in  its  results  prove  injurious 
to  the  best  interests  of  the  Baptist  denomination,  as 
well  as  to  the  common  cause  of  Christianity  in  our 
happy  land.  I  hope  I  am  cooling  dowrn  a  little.  I 
want  more  of  your  quiet  calmness  ;  or,  you  will  say,  I 
want  more  of  the  mind  that  was  in  the  precious  Saviour, 
I  try  to  pray  for  it  constantly,  that  I  may  walk  by 
faith,  and  not  by  sight ;  aim  to  do  right,  and  leave 

the  results  with  Him.    Bro. ,  has  thus  far  kept  South 

Carolina  from  coming  up  to  our  help.  I  hope  his  Anti- 
Baptist-Bible  doctrine  will  never  gain  many  disciples  in 
your  State.  I  grieve  over  the  course  he  has  taken,  and 
winder  how  he  can  think  he  is  doing  God  service, 
by  abusing  his  brethren.  But  I  strive  to  comfort 
myself  with  the  assurance,  that  'the  Lord  God  omnipo- 
tent rc'igneth]  and  if  He  be  for  us,  who  can  be  against 
us  ?     JS~o  one  successfully,  most  surely  ! 

"  Bro.  B.  is  out  again  in  print  about  baptizo.  '  The 
word  is  untranslatable.'  I  am  waiting  for  him  to  show 
that  the  Saviour  delivered  the  commission  to  the  Apos- 
tles in    Greek,  for  if  this  is  not  clearly  made  out,  I 


334  LIFE    OF    SPENCER    HOUGHTON'   CONE. 

cannot  see  but  that  baptizo  stands  for  some  Hebrew 
word  which  may  mean  to  dip ;  and  if  Naaman  was 
dipped  seven  times  without  being  drowned,  it  seems 
possible,  that  a  believer  may  be  immersed  without 
being  kept  under  the  water  for  ever.  When  Gary, 
Marshman,  Yates,  Judson,  etc.,  have  translated  the 
word  into  languages  spoken  by  so  many  millions  of  the 
human  family;  and  since  Gill,  Booth,  Carson,  etc.,  have 
so  clearly  demonstrated  its  meaning,  my  spectacles  do 
not  magnify  sufficiently  to  discern  the  modesty  of  the 
man  who  boldly  declares  that  uuptizo  is  untranslatable. 
But  in  the  face  of  so  great  a  linguist,  I  still  think 
we  may  safely  immerse  willing  converts." 

A  few  extracts  from  Mr.  Cone's  presidential  address 
at  the  close  of  the  first  anniversary  of  the  American  and 
Foreign  Bible  Society,  will  place  in  the  clearest  light 
the  motives  upon  which  he  acted,  not  only  in  that,  but 
in  all  things  connected  with  his  denomination. 

"Borne  along,"  he  says,  "by  circumstances  which  we 
could  neither  anticipate  nor  control  ;  cut  oil*  from 
resources  upon  which  we  had  been  accustomed,  perhaps, 
too  much  to  rely  ;  and  having  examined  the  signs  of  the 
times  with  prayerful  solicitude,  we  have  at  length  been 
constrained  to  organize  a  distinct  society,  for  the  print- 
ing and  circulation  of  the  Sacred  Scriptures.  To  this 
course  we  have  been  impelled,  not  merely  by  the  fact, 
that  the  Calcutta,  the  British  and  Foreign,  and  the 
American  Bible  Societies,  have  combined  in  the  deter- 
mination to  afford  no  further  aid  to  versions  made 
by  Baptist  missionaries  ;  versions  which  obvious  duty 
binds  us  promptly  and  adequately  to  sustain  ;  but  the 
measure  has  been  imperatively  demanded  by  the  cry  of 
the  destitute  ;  by  the  ardent  desire  of  many  of  our 
churches,  to  come  up  to  the  help  ol  the  Lord,  in  this 


LITE    OF   SrENCER    HOUGHTON    CONE.  335 

matter,  against  the  mighty;  and  bj  the  peculiar  facili- 
ties now  afforded  us  in  the  glorious  work  of  Bible 
distribution. 

"  In  communicating  to  the  human  family  the  gracious 
plan  of  salvation  through  Jesus  Christ,  Holy  men  of  God 
spake  as  they  were  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost.  Not  only 
did  they  deliver  the  sentiments,  but  the  very  words 
of  Jehovah.  *  *  *  *  All  Scripture  is  given  by 
inspiration  of  God.  *  *  *  *  The  gift  of  inspira- 
tion, it  is  true,  is  not  vouchsafed  to  modern  missionaries 
and  translators  ;  nevertheless,  in  connection  with  their 
high  vocation,  the  doctrine  we  advocate  is  of  immense 
moment.  Under  its  influence,  not  a  single  word  can  be 
intentionally  neglected,  obscured,  or  perverted.  *  *  * 
Among  the  errors  and  frauds  which  have  marked  the 
rise  and  progress  of  the  Papal  Hierarchy,  handling  the 
word  of  the  Lord  deceitfully,  certainly,  is  not  the  least. 
To  keep  back  any  part  of  the  price  ;  to  add  to,  or  take 
from  the  words  of  the  Booh-,  is  a  crime  of  no  questiona- 
ble character — the  curse  of  the  Almighty  rests  upon  it ! 

*  *  *  In  the  version  used  by  Papists,  for  the 
maintenance  of  their  "prodigious  structure  of  imposture 
and  ivirhdness,'  Baptizo  and  its  cognates  are  invariably 
Latinized— never  translated ;  and  the  same  policy  was 
pursued  in  all  European  versions,  wherever  the  author- 
ity of  the  'man  of  sin'  prevailed.  The  unlearned 
not  being  permitted  'to  read  in  their  own  tongues 
wherein  they  were  born,'  what  God  required  of  believ- 
ers, were  compelled  to  rely  upon  their  spiritual  guides, 
and  they  told  them  that  Baptizo  signified  to  sprinkle,  or 
pour,  or  christen  ;  that  it  was  too  holy  to  be  translated; 
and  that  its  meaning  was  as  immaterial  as  it  was  indefi- 
nite, and  so,  unhappily,  one  of  the  important  ordinances 
of  the  Gospel,  described  by  the  Holy  Spirit  as  with  a 
sunbeam,  has  been  covered  up,  and  hid  from  the  great 


336  LIFE   OF    SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

mass  of  the  people,  by  the  Popish  artifice  of  trans- 
fer. 

"  The  Baptists,  in  every  age  and  in  every  clime,  from 
the  days  of  Paul,  when  the  sect  was  everywhere  spoken 
against,  to  the  present  hour,  have  been  the  steadfast 
friends  of  the  Voluntary  Principle,  in  whatever 
pertains  to  religion.  They  maintain,  to  use  the  language 
of  a  forcible  writer,  '  that  man  cannot  be  born  into  a 
system  of  faith,  nor  be  surrendered  in  infancy  or  age  to 
a  form  of  religion,  but  may  assert  his  right  to  judge  for 
himself;  to  examine  and  decide,  under  the  lofty  convic- 
tion that  God  has  not  made  him  a  slave.  They 
acknowledge  no  clerical  or  secular  domination,  but 
scorn,  with  becoming  indignation,  every  attempt  to 
subdue  reason  by  enforcing  the  dogmas  of  a  party,  and 
hold,  with  determined  fidelity,  the  high  vantage 
ground  assigned  them  by  their  Creator.'  No  man  is 
born  a  Baptist.  Membership  in  our  churches  is  matter  <• 
of  choice,  after  the  Christian  character  is  formed. 

"  The  compulsory  system,  which  tramples  upon  the 
freedom  of  judgment  and  will,  is  written  in  the  history 
of  our  denomination  in  characters  of  blood.  The  Bap- 
tists, in  the  valleys  of  Piedmont,  in  Germany,  Bohemia, 
France,  Wales,  and  New  England,  have  been  the  sub- 
jects of  the  most  unrelenting  persecutions.  They  were 
fined,  imprisoned,  banished,  and  massacred ;  not  upon 
the  principle  of  retaliation,  because  they  had  persecuted 
others ;  not  for  any  immoralities  laid  to  their  charge  ; 
but  because  they  immersed  willing  converts;  and 
opposed  the  baptism  of  unwilling  infants ;  and  refused 
to  receive  for  doctrine  the  commandments  of  men  ;  and 
adhered,  with  unyielding  integrity,  to  the  great  Bible 
principle,  Liberty  of  Conscience  the  Inalienable 
Birthright  of  Man  !  Attachment  to  this  sentiment  has 
resulted  in   our  separation  from  the  American  Bible 


LITE    OF    SPENCER    HOUGHTON    CONE.  337 

Society.  The  managers  of  that  institution  interfered 
with  the  consciences  of  Baptist  Missionaries,  in  th< 
execution  of  their  trust  as  translators  of  God's  Hoh 
Book ;  requiring  them  to  make  versions  that  might  be 
consistently  used  by  the  several  denominations  compos 
ing  the  society,  as  the  indispensable  condition  of  future 
patronage.  Believing  that  '  the  Bible  should  control 
human  opinions,  and  that  the  creeds  of  different  sects 
ought  never  to  govern  the  Bible,'  we  have  disallowed 
the  rule  adopted  by  the  American  Bible  Society,  and 
ceasing  from  man,  whose  breath  is  in  his  nostrils,  would 
lift  up  our  eyes  to  the  hills  whence  our  help  cometh." 

The  Voluntary  Principle  was  the  key  to  his  action 
in  this  matter,  as  in  all  others  relating  to  human  associa- 
tion. It  is  clear  that  the  more  astute  of  his  opponents, 
in  the  American  Bible  Society,  saw  the  tendency  and 
consequence  of  his  opinions.  They  saw  that  his  great 
principle  struck  at  the  root  and  life  of  every  other 
system  than  that  adhered  to  by  Baptists.  His  coursa  was 
governed  by  an  inexorable  logic.  Baptists  founded  their 
entire  system  upon  the  Bible.  Their  system  was  true. 
Pure  translations,  literal  translations  of  the  Bible  must 
sow  the  seed  of  those  principles  everywhere,  and  the 
whole  civil  and  religious  policy  and  aspect  of  the  world 
be  ultimately  changed.  Translate  the  Bible,  spread 
abroad  Baptist  sentiments,  and  if  the  whole  world  did  not 
become  Baptist,  it  must  at  least  assimilate  to  them  in  most 
important  particulars.  Those  sentiments  were  a  lever 
able  to  lift  the  worid,  if  a  fulcrum  only  could  be  found. 
The  United  States  of  America  was  that  fulcrum.  God 
appeared  to  point  directly  to  them  by  the  finger  of  His 
providence.  Here  the  democratic  sentiment  sustained 
and  defended  the  Voluntary  Principle  in  its  purity. 
For  this  he  fought.  It  was  the  foundation  upon  which 
he     stood.       Nowhere     so     perfectly     understood     or 

15 


338  LIFE   OF   SPENCEE   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

practised  as  amongst  Baptists,  the  whole  machinery  of 
whose  church  relationships  and  religions  policy  were 
strictly  conformed  to  it,  the  diffusion  of  Baptist  senti- 
ments in  religion  carried,  of  necessity,  with  them  the 
pure  principles  of  human  freedom,  or  the  Voluntary 
System  in  civil  government.  To  spread  these  principles 
of  civil  and  religious  liberty  he  preached  from  the 
pulpit;  lie  spoke  from  the  platform;  he  worked  in 
benevolent  societies ;  to  show  the  world  to  whom  it  was 
imdebted  for  them,  he  republished  "  Jones'  Church 
History,"  which  is  indeed  but  an  extended  record  of 
Baptist  struggle  to  engraft  upon  the  civil  policy  of 
states,  the  principles  of  the  voluntary  system.  To  lay 
for  them  an  immovable  basis  he  contended  for  " pure 
versions  of  the  "Word  of  God."  A  few  years  will  show 
that  his  life,  a  life  devoted  to  this  principle,  was  not  in 
vain.  What  he  preached  for  forty  years,  and  what  was 
heard  by  hundreds  of  thousands,  did  not  fall  upon 
barren  places.  He  knew  and  felt  his  people,  because 
he  loved  them.  A  large  souled  American  of  the  type 
and  fashion  of  the  early  founders  of  the  Republic,  his 
republicanism  was  not  confined  to  a  form  of  civil 
government.  To  the  poor  the  Gospel  was  preached, 
and  his  republicanism  and  Christianity  were  inseparable. 
He  knew  the  heart  of  his  denomination,  because  he 
knew  the  people's  heart ;  and  his  own  beat  with  it.  This 
was  the  great  secret  of  his  success.  He  did  not  take 
hold  of  a  little  finger,  or  lay  his  hand  upon  a  foot,  or  an 
arm  to  find  what  was  in  it ;  but  he  -put  his  hand  with 
the  boldness  of  love  and  sympathy  directly  upon  its 
heart,  and  learned  how  it  beat.  Men  made  a  great 
mistake  if  they  fancied  he  did  anything  in  a  hurry,  or 
from  his  own  mere  motion  only.  He  never  hesitated 
because  he  stood  alone  upon  a  great  truth,  and  yet  he 
never  stirred  hastily.     By  a  happy  intuition,  the  intui- 


LIFE    OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON    CONE.  339 

tion  of  honesty,  he  struck  out  great  popular  truths — - 
but  they  were  always  truths,  and  popular  because  true. 
Error  had  no  venerable  quality  for  him,  no  matter 
how  hedged  about  by  great  names,  or  hoary  with  the 
rime  of  age.  To  him  there  was  no  divinity  in  the 
royalty  of  falsehood.  Its  crown  and  sceptre  had  no 
more  terror  for  him,  than  a  shepherd's  crook.  Its  very 
majesty,  and  power  over  men's  minds,  was  the  strongest 
reason  for  entering  the  lists  against  it.  In  a  just  quarrel 
he  was  fearless ;  and  as  careless  of  what  men's  hearts 
might  think  or  tongues  might  say  as  if  he  had  been 
"locked  up  in  steel." 

Referring  to  both  these  qualities,  a  distinguished 
brother  preacher  writes  to  him  : 

"  Your  inquiry  as  to  whether  we  have  done  what  we 
ought,  to  keep  the  great  heart  of  our  denomination,  is  a 
legitimate  one. 

"I  have  suffered  so  much  from  every  attempt  to  act 
independently,  that  I  have  become  timid.  I  have  not 
your  bravery.  I  cannot,  like  you,  bear  hard  knocks. 
This  you  will  call  weakness.  Probably  it  is  so.  I  love 
the  cause  ;  I  am  willing  to  work  for  it ;  but  to  fight  for 
it—'  there's  the  rub.'  " 

Not  so  with  him.  Let  him  believe  he  had  a  "  thus 
saith  the  Lord  "  to  go  to  battle  on,  and  he  was  quite  as 
ready  to  fight  as  work.  The  one  or  the  other;  it  was 
perfectly  indifferent  which.  If  God  gave  his  banner 
into  his  keeping,  he  had  always  a  soldier's  carelessness 
where  it  was  to  be  carried.  That  was  his  Captain's 
business,  not  his. 

The  principles  he  preached  were  not  new  ;  they  have 
been  written  on  the  lives  of  Baptists  from  the  }-ear  of 
our  Lord,  330,  and  the  time  of  the  Bishop  of  Rome, 
called  Sylvester.  But  it  is  notorious  that  his  ministry 
of  forty  years  stirred  up  the  Baptists  of  the  United 


340  LIFE   OF    SPENCEB   HOUGHTON    CONE. 

States  to  a  livelier  and  more  consistent  defence  and  pro- 
pagation of  them  than  that  of  any  other  man  of  his 
time. 

What  he  preached  during  all  those  years,  and  labored 
mightily  to  upbuild,  is  daily  finding  new  advocates.  To 
some  extent,  Professor  Curtis,  in  his  able  "  progress  of 
Baptist  principles,"  sustains  his  favorite  positions, 
although  he  does  not  go  quite  so  far  as  he  did.  Every 
such  work,  however,  serves  more  clearly  to  instruct  the 
people  of  the  United  States,  to  whom  they  are  indebted 
for  that  unshackled  "soul  freedom"  wherein  they  now 
rejoice,  and  under  the  happy  influence  of  which  they 
are  pressing  exultingly  forward.  It  is  right  that  the 
people  of  these  States  should  know  that,  belong  to  what 
denomination  they  may,  or  belong  to  none,  they  are 
living  under  a  government  constituted  purely  upon 
Baptist  principles,  and  that  but  for  the  preaching,  and 
suffering,  and  indomitable  energy  of  Baptists,  such  a 
government  never  could  or  would  have  existed  upon  the 
earth.  It  is  right  that  they  should  learn  to  what  the 
principles  of  Baptists  tend,  and  how  their  triumph  is  the 
triumph  of  voluntaryism  over  coercion,  of  republican 
freedom  over  every  usurpation  of  power,  by  whatever 
name  disguised.  It  is  just,  too,  that  in  his  memoirs 
which  we  write,  the  principles  for  which  he  lived  should 
stand  boldly  out.  Professor  Curtis  states  the  distinctive 
principles  of  Baptists  thus: 

1.  Freedom  of  conscience,  and  the  entire  separation 
of  Church  and  State. 

2.  A  converted  church  membership. 

3.  Sacraments  inoperative  without  choice  and  faith. 

4.  Believers,  the  only  scriptural  subjects  of  baptism. 

5.  Immersion  always  the  baptism  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment. 

The  word  "  sacraments  "  was  not  in  Mr.  Cone's  voca- 


LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE.  341 

biliary.  He  denied  that  there  were  anything  but 
"  ordinances  of  the  Gospel."  In  the  "summary  of  the 
faith  and  practice  "  of  the  First  Baptist  Church  in  the 
City  of  New  York,"  printed  under  his  supervision  in 
1851,  and  on  the  title-page  of  which  his  name  appears, 
the  18th  Article  states  "  That  the  only  symbolic  ordi- 
nances appertaining  to  the  Gospel  dispensation,  are 
Baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper." 

From  the  principle  mentioned,  fifth  in  order,  by  Pro- 
fessor Curtis,  resulted  the  views  Mr.  Cone  had,  in 
common  with  all  Close  Communion  Baptists,  of  the 
order  of  a  Christian  church,  as  formed  upon  the  apos- 
tolic and  primitive  model,  of  the  necessity  of  conversion, 
&c,  &c. ;  of  the  proper  subjects  of  Christian  baptism, 
and  the  proper  character  of  those  who  should  publicly 
put  on  Christ  by  immersion,  and  sit  down  to  His  table. 

From  the  one  first  stated  resulted  his  whole  system  of 
republican  civil  government,  and  republican  Chris- 
tianity. 

The  best  authorities  would  seem  to  sustain  his  belief, 
that  these  distinctive  principles  of  Baptists,  particularly 
those  referring  to  the  separation  of  civil  and  religious 
matters,  and  entire  freedom  of  conscience  to  all  men, 
freedom  to  believe  or  disbelieve  as  they  choose,  dates 
from  the  age  of  the  Apostles.  Thence  flowing  down, 
interrupted,  indeed,  by  persecution,  but  still  permeating 
the  harsh  soil  of  Popery,  and  breaking  out  in  rills  as 
limpid  as  the  waters  of  life,  from  the  rocky  declivities 
of  the  Cevennes,  or  the  more  luxuriant  falls  of  Italy ; 
they  nourished  the  seeds  of  truth  and  freedom  in  the 
hearts  of  Arnold  of  Brescia,  Peter  de  Bruis,  and  the 
Waldensian  leaders. 

Their  principles  found  their  earliest  exponent  upon 
American  soil  in  Roger  Williams,  of  Rhode  Island. 
"In  1630,  Roger  Williams  commenced  to  preach  in  favor 


342  LIFE   OF  SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

of  religions  liberty,  and  in  1636,  having  purchased  ter- 
ritory from  the  Indians,  commenced  to  found  the  colony 
on  the  express  principles  of  perfect  religions  liberty.  In 
1638,  others  having  joined  and  purchased  the  territory 
of  the  present  State  of  Rhode  Island,  a  voluntary  gov- 
ernment was  formally  instituted,  by  a  solemn  covenant 
of  all,  to  '  submit  to  the  orders  of  the  major  part  in  civil 
things  only.''  Thus  was  a  constitution  formed  on  the 
express  basis  of  a  perfect  liberty  of  conscience.  It  is 
true  that  it  was  not  until  1614  that  Roger  Williams 
obtained  his  charter  from  the  king.  This  was  not 
sought,  even  then,  because  he  deemed  it  necessary,  but 
only  expedient,  as  a  means  of  preventing  the  encroach- 
ments of  the  colony  of  Massachusetts.  This  charter  was 
obtained  and  solemnly  accepted  and  adopted  by  the 
inhabitants,  in  1647,  and  on  the  10th  of  May,  in  that 
year,  a  body  of  laws  were  enacted,  and  the  government 
further  settled  upon  the  principle  of  perfect  religious 
liberty.  Even  this  last  was  about  two  years  previous  to 
any  enactment  in  favor  of  toleration  afterward  esta- 
blished in  Maryland.  A  more  vital  point,  however, 
than  one  of  dates,  remains  to  be  considered.  The  very 
word  toleration  implies  the  right  to  persecute  "  (Curtis, 
p.  41 ;  Hildreth,  vol.  1,  pp.  207,  347,  256,  322)  Bap- 
tists— the  Baptist  Williams  and  his  compeers  did  not 
tolerate,  they  established  perfect  religious  liberty. 

Here  they  stand  alone.  They  have  not  only  the 
honor,  whatever  Archbishop  Hughes  may  say  to  the 
contrary,  of  first  establishing  religious  liberty  on  this 
continent,  and  on  any  continent,  but  also  of  establishing 
the  only  religious  liberty  which  was  here  opened  to 
men's  souls.  Lord  Baltimore  tolerated;  Roger  Wil- 
liams enfranchised. 

How  he  of  whom  we  write  preached,  with  what 
exulting  satisfaction  he  dwelt  upon  those  distinguishing 


LIFE   OF   SPENCEB   HOUGHTON    CONE. 


343 


features  of  Baptist  principles,  and  labored  to  spread 
them  for  the  benefit  of  all  men— Baptist  or  not— believ- 
er or  not— but  simply  to  spread  them  for  the  temporal 
as  well  as  spiritual  welfare  of  men,  are  there  not  many 
thousands  who  remember'; 

Let  us  listen  to  him  in  1854,  speaking  to  the  Lible 
Union  these  memorable  words. 

"No   other  Bible  organization  in  the  wide   world, 
advocates  the  translation  and  circulation  of  the  whole 
truth      No  other  lives  and  breathes,  and  has  it  existence 
exclusively  in  the  unclouded  atmosphere  of  pure  unal- 
loyed principle  ;  as  the  beloved  Oncken,  whilst  amongst 
h^  said,  oim  principle  is  divine   ***  here  no  king  can 
threaten  us  ;  here  no  civil  tribunal  can  coerce  us,      * 
in  no  preceding  age  were  so  just  views  entertained  ol 
religious  liberty,  as  at  the  present  time.    With  few  excep- 
tions, and  those  chiefly  among  the  Baptists,  even  the 
advocates  of  religious  freedom  in  past  days,  have  insisted 
upon  some  restriction  upon  the  rights  of  conscience, 
some  connection  between  Church  and  State.    Luther, 
Calvin,  Zwinglius,  Knox  and  their  followers  together 
with  the  Puritans,  both  of  Old  England  and  New  Eng- 
land, all  fell  into  this  grievous  error.     The  present  cen- 
tury has  done  more  to  explode  it  than  any  other,  since 
the   days  of  Christ  and  his  Apostles.     *  *  *  In  this 
hio-hlv  favored  land,  the  sun  of  liberty  first  shone  with 
unobstructed  rays.    Rhode  Island  was  the  first  State  that 
really  established  the  principle  of  freedom  to  worship 
God      This  was   the  pattern  commonwealth  ol  Koger 
Williams,  followed  by  the  other  States  in  our  glorious 
Union,  where  all  civil  power  should  be  exercised  by  the 
people  alone,   and  where  the  Ruler  of  the  Universe 
should  be  the  only  ruler  over  the  conscience. 

«  Of  all  denominations,  Baptists  have  most  strenuously 
and  efficiently  battled  for  unrestricted  religious  liberty. 


344  LIFE    OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

From  the  time  when  John  the  Baptist  was  imprisoned 
for  freedom  of  speech,  to  the  time  of  John  Banyan,  who 
suffered  for  the  same  crime ;  and  from  the  time  of  the 
ingenious  dreamer  to  the  formation  of  the  American  Bible 
Union,  they  have  been  bold  to  declare  and  maintain  their 
views  of  truth.  They  never  could  endure  to  receive  their 
religion  by  inheritance  instead  of  conviction,  or  yield  np 
their  souls  to  the  domination  of  popes,  kings,  councils, 
or  assemblies.  To  the  Law  and  to  the  Testimony  has 
been  their  uniform  appeal;  the  living  oracles  j  the 
revealed  mind  and  will  of  Jehovah  ! 

"  Such  is  the  age — such  the  country — such  are  the 
principles  which  have  grown  with  our  growth,  and 
strengthened  with  our  strength.  Is  it  wonderful  that 
they  should  have  conduced  to  originate  and  cherish  in 
our  hearts  an  earnest  desire  to  know  exactly  what  God 
has  taught?  Is  it  surprising  that  we  should  reject  the 
authority  of  King  James  and  the  rules  by  which  he 
restricted  the  revisers  of  the  Bishop's  Bible  from  '  LET- 
TING-  OUT   THE   WHOLE   TRUTH?' 

"  But  we  are  told  that  the  legitimate  exercise  of  our 
liberty  in  seeking  to  know  what  God  had  revealed,  pro- 
duces disturbance.  No  doubt  of  it.  Truth  and  princi- 
ple always  create  disturbance  in  our  sinful  world.  The 
inspired  Apostles  themselves  turned  the  world  upside 
down  by  preaching  the  truth.  You  cannot  put  a  little 
leaven  into  three  measures  of  meal  without  producing  a 
great  ferment,  until  the  whole  is  leavened.  The  Refor- 
mation was  a  fruitful  source  of  trouble,  the  effects  of 
which  have  not  yet  died  away.  The  translation  of  the 
Bible  by  "Wickliffe  caused  great  disturbance  ;  and  Tyn- 
dale's  version  produced  still  greater.  What  would  have 
been  the  effect  of  the  revision  made  under  King  James, 
if  the  revisers  had  been  permitted  by  him  to  do  their 
duty,  and  had  done  it,  who  can  tell  ?     Probably  it  would 


LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE.  345 

Lave  changed  the  whole  aspect  of  religions  affairs  in 
Great  Britain;  and  have  severed  probably  the  cords 
that  bound  together  Church  and  State ;  nay,  it  might 
even  have  gone  far  towards  pulling  down  infant  sprink- 
ling, that  great  '  part  and  pillar  of  popery  !' 

"  And  what  is  the  truth  for  which  we  are  contending? 
Is  it  some  personal  matter  between  man  and  man  ?  Is 
it  an  affair  that  concerns  only  a  city,  a  state,  a  nation? 
Ko  !  the  truth  for  which  we  strive  is  the  truth  as  it  is 
ln  Jesus  !  the  truth  that  concerns  the  immortal  soul ; 
the  truth  that  affects  the  welfare  of  our  whole  race,  and 
the  declarative  glory  of  God  on  the  earth.  We  assert 
that  there  should  be  no  embargo  laid  upon  God's  word, 
that  it  should  be  given  to  our  countrymen,  and  to  the 
whole  family  of  man,  in  as  pure  translations  as  can  be 
made  ;  and  that  it  should  be  free  as  the  air  we  breathe. 
No  priestly  faction,  no  prejudiced  society,  no  combination 
of  wealth  or  influence  should  prevent  it.  Let  the  Word 
of  God  run,  and  have  free  course,  and  he  glorified  I  The 
motto  of  Bro.  Kobner,  of  Hamburg,  we  have  acted  upon 
from  the  beginning — Who  can  measure  the  consequences 

OF   AN    UNFAITHFUL  TRANSLATION  OF  A  SINGLE  SENTENCE  ?" 

At  Providence  E.  L,  in  April,  1845,  he  had  said 
of  Eoo-er  Williams,  "  He  established  a  commonwealth 
upon  the  pure  principles  of  democracy.  He  set  an 
example  which  exerted  a  mighty  influence  upon  neigh- 
boring colonies,  and  resulted  in  the  formation  of  our 
happy  national  government.  Christians  of  every  name 
should  be  reminded  of  the  obligations  they  owe  to  God, 
for  the  principles  and  conduct  of  Roger  Williams.  But 
for  these  the  descendants  of  the  Puritans  might  yet 
have  been  employed  in  burning,  for  witches,  helpless 
and  inoffensive  old  women ;  or  in  whipping,  lining, 
imprisoning,  banishing,  or  murdering  Quakers,  and 
Ajiabaptists  (falsely  so  called)  for  no  other  reason  than 

22* 


34:6  LIFE    OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

their  obstinately  refusing  'to  receive  for  doctrine  the 
commandments  of  men.'  When  thinking  of  that  first 
of  American  Baptists,  in  connection  with  Providence,  I 
cannot  refrain  from  exclaiming : 

"  ' Oh,  call  this  holy  ground! 
The  soil  where  Williams  trod, 
He  left  unstained,  what  here  he  found, 
Fkeedoh  to  worship  God.'  " 

Tims  we  have,  in  the  claim  he  makes  for  Baptists  as 
the  first  to  establish  religious  freedom,  what  more  or 
less  pervaded  every  speech  and  sermon  he  delivered 
during  the  forty  years  of  his  ministry.  The  glory  of  the 
principle  and  of  Baptists  as  its  exponents  through  ages 
of  persecution  and  violence,  until  its  happy  triumph  at 
last  on  the  shores  of  America,  was  ever  in  his  mind,  and 
formed  one  of  the  strong  ties  which  bound  him  to  his 
denomination.  There  was  no  novelty,  indeed,  in  it,  since 
the  fact  of  its  assertion  by  Baptists  in  every  age,  made 
it  as  venerable  for  antiquity  as  for  truth.  The  marked 
boldness  and  pertinacity  with  which  he  asserted  it,  the 
prominence  he  gave  it,  and  the  popularity  he  added 
to  it,  by  a  powerful  and  courteous  presentation  of  the 
fact,  made  him  pre-eminent  as  the  apologist  of  his  peo- 
ple. Is  not  his  eloquence  also  yet  ringing  in  our  ears 
as  he  dwelt  upon  the  glorious  simplicity  of  a  Baptist 
church,  a  voluntary  association  of  men  of  like  faith  in 
the  Lord  Jesus,  electing  their  officers — pastor,  deacon, 
all — by  open  vote  of  majority  ;  transacting  their  church 
business  after  the  manner  of  a  free  republic  ;  every 
church  distinct  and  substantive  in  its  existence,  subordi- 
nate to  nothing  on  earth,  amenable  to  no  law  but  God's 
law  in  the  Bible,  in  its  church  relationship ;  subject  to 
no  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction  ;  acknowledging  no  superior 
but  the  Head  over  all  things  to  his  church,  even  Christ ; 


LIFE    OF    SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE.  3-47 

recognizing  Baptist  churches,  but  no  Baptist  church! 
are  not  all  these  things  fresh  jet  in  our  hearts,  and  shall 
not  these  principles  live ;  shall  they  not  be  immortal  ? 
Shall  not  a  "  translated  bible  "  carry  them  on  the 
wings  of  the  wind  wide  as  the  world?  He  believed  it, 
and  that  belief  made  every  labor  light,  allayed  every 
rising  sorrow,  plucked  the  sting  of  every  disappointment 
and  animated  with  the  fire  and  energy  of  youth  his 
happy  age.  He  was  the  first  we  ever  recollect  hearing 
say,  that  "Baptists  were  not  Protestants,  that  they 
came  in  a  direct  line  from  the  apostolic  churches,  and 
as  they  never  consented  to  the  iniquities  of  Rome,  they 
nad  not  to  come  out  from  her  and  protest." 

And  what  God  has  by  the  miraculous  interposition 
and  care  of  His  high  providence  "kept  so  pure  of  old," 
and  transmitted  unadulterated  even  to  this  time — shall 
it  not  endure 

"  Until  the  elements  shall  be  burned  up, 
And  every  creature  shall  be  purified  ?" 


348  LIFE   OF    SPENCER   HOUGHTON    CONE. 


CHAPTEK    XIX. 

THE   AMERICAN   AND   FOREIGN   BIBLE   SOCIETY. 

The  first  annual  meeting  of  the  American  and 
Foreign  Bible  Society,  was  held  on  Thursday,  April 
26th,  1838,  in  the  meeting-house  of  the  Oliver  street 
Baptist  Church,  New  York.  The  second  annual  meet- 
ing was  held  on  Tuesday,  the  22d  of  April,  1839,  in  the 
meeting-house  of  the  First  Baptist  Church,  Second 
street,  Philadelphia.  Mr.  Cone  was  again  chosen  as  its 
president.  After  reading  of  the  treasurer's  report,  the 
president  opened  his  address,  and  the  business  of  the 
session,  by  saying,  "  A  review  of  the  gracious  dealings 
of  Divine  Providence  in  reference  to  its  operations,  was 
calculated  to  excite  emotions  of  the  liveliest  gratitude. 
With  but  one  agent,  our  indefatigable  Brother  Maclay, 
the  receipts  of  the  treasurer  for  the  current  year  have 
furnished  a  gratifying  proof  of  the  estimation  in  which 
the  society  continues  to  be  held  by  the  Baptists  of  the 
United  States,  and  a  pleasing  presage,  that  still  more 
liberal  supplies  may  be  confidently  anticipated,  as  new 
facilities  are  presented  to  expend  them  judiciously. 
*  *  *  *  In  the  exercise  of  Christian  courtesy,  the 
many  yielded  to  the  wishes  of  the  few,  and  the  efforts 
of  the  Board  of  Managers  were,  during  the  year  suc- 
ceeding the  convention  in  Philadelphia,  limited  to  the 
circulation  of  the  Word  of  God  in  foreign  tongues.  At 
the  last  anniversary,  this  feature  of  the  constitution  was 
obliterated,  by  the  unanimous  vote  of  the  society,  and  to 
our  original  motto — The  Bible  translated — we  were 


LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE.  349 

permitted  to  add — The  field  is  the  world  !  The 
debatable  ground  being  thus  happily  passed  over,  we  had 
only  to  commend  ourselves,  in  humble  reliance  upon 
Almighty  God,  to  the  work  evidently  set  before  us. 

"As  Americans,  and  Baptists,  we  have  from  the 
beginning  felt  the  claims  of  our  country." 

The  unanimity  of  the  society,  and  the  cordial  support 
afforded  it  by  the  denomination,  proved  the  unsound- 
ness of  the  objections  urged  against  it  in  the  Philadel- 
phia convention.  The  most  uncompromising  opponents 
in  that  convention,  were  Drs.  William  T.  Brantly,  and 
William  R.  Williams.  It  is  questionable,  whether  they 
had  at  that  time  a  party  prepared  to  sustain  them  in  their 
extreme  opposition  views.  Although  many  were  unde- 
cided, a  second  class,  the  class  always  found  in  deliberative 
assemblies,  as  everywhere  else  in  life,  were  nervous, 
undecided,  and  busy  looking  for  an  opportunity  to  see 
which  way  the  current  set,  and  swim  with  it,  and 
so  keep  well  with  the  strongest  party.  The  third 
section,  and  happily  an  overwhelming  majority,  asked 
only,  '  What  is  the  truth  ?  What  does  it  require  at  our 
hands  V  These  rallied  under  the  great  leader  in  the 
enterprise,  and  stood  immovable  against  every  shock. 
It  seems  proper  to  give  a  sketch  of  the  arguments  used 
in  that  convention.  Dr.  Brantly  opposed  it  as  unneces- 
sary, there  was,  he  maintained,  already  an  organization 
for  this  specific  purpose,  and  until  its  deficiency  should 
be  proved,  he  would  not  vote  for  a  new  one.  The 
Baptist  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  had  sustained,  and 
conducted  the  whole  matter  of  translating  and  diffusing 
the  Bible.  Why  add  another  power  to  the  machinery  ? 
He  opposed  a  new  organization,  on  the  further  ground 
that  the  translation  and  dispersion  of  the  Bible  in 
foreign  tongues  is  a  missionary  work,  and  should  be  left 
to  a  Missionary  Board  ;  and  lastly,  that  in  directing  the 


350  LIFE   OF    SPENCER    HOUGHTON   CONE. 

attention  of  the  denomination  to  the  work  of  foreign 
versions  and  distribution,  there  might  be  danger  of 
drawing  on*  their  energies  from  co-ordinate  departments 
of  missionary  duty.  He  treated  the  scheme  as  vision- 
ary. He  was  opposed  to  the  separation  it  would 
produce  between  Baptists  and  other  Christians.  He 
was  a  Baptist,  but  he  loved  the  name  of  Protestant 
better.  He  wanted  reasons,  not  poetry  and  declam- 
ation. 

Dr.  Williams  eulogized  the  translators  of  King  James. 
He  anticipated  that  the  effect  of  leaving  the  American 
Bible  Society  would  be  to  beget  a  schism  in  the  denom- 
ination. He  maintained  that  Mr.  Cone  had  acted 
improperly  in  calling  the  convention.  That  it  was  an 
usurpation  of  power.  That  those  who  sent  him,  Dr. 
W.,  would  support  foreign,  but  not  domestic  operations. 

Dr.  Wayland  desired  to  see  the  convention  unan- 
imous, but  opposed  domestic  operations,  or  making 
home  distribution  a  part  of  it,  or  attempting  a  better 
version.  He  denied  the  power  of  the  convention  to  do 
so,  on  the  ground  that  the  denomination  could  not  be 
represented — "  Every  Baptist  man  being  responsible  to 
his  own  church,  and  responsible  to  no  other  being 
under  God."  A  very  true  and  noble  Baptist  republican 
sentiment,  but  rather  illogically  applied.  Dr.  Wayland, 
although  in  opposition,  was  kind,  dignified,  and  Christ- 
ian-like, in  argument.  He  adhered,  however,  to  the 
American  Bible  Society,  and  we  believe  still  continues 
to  do  so.  He  was  the  apologist  of  that  institution 
throughout,  and  was  the  author  of  the  resolutions 
cutting  off  the  Baptist  missionaries.  He  was  undoubt- 
edly sincere ;  but,  how  a  Baptist  can  "  believe  infant 
sprinkling  a  pillar  and  ground  of  Popery,"  and  yet 
sustain  the  system  which  perpetuates  it,  is  hard  to 
understand. 


LIFE   OF   SPENCEIi   HOUGHTON   CONE.  351 

Mr.  Lincoln,  of  Boston,  took  the  same  view  of  the 
subject,  and  was  enthusiastic  in  his  eulogium  upon  the 
greatness  and  success  of  the  American  Bible  Society. 
He  denied  that  Baptists  had  a  right  to  complain  of  the 
resolution  cutting  off  their  missionaries.  It  was  in  con- 
sonance with  the  letter  and  spirit  of  its  constitution. 
The  A.  B.  S.  was  a  great  and  noble  institution.  His 
esteemed  Brother  Cone,  himself,  introduced  the  resolu- 
tion, adopted  by  the  A.  B.  S.  to  supply  the  whole  world 
with  the  Sacred  Scriptures,  in  the  shortest  time  practi- 
cable. Mr.  Cone  had  by  that  given  a  pledge  the 
Baptist  denomination  were  bound  to  redeem.  We  could 
not  be  released  from  our  obligations  to  it.  His  conclu- 
sions were  hostile  to  a  Baptist  institution,  as  liable  to 
interfere  with  that  "  great  and  noble  "  one. 

Mr.  Maginnis,  of  Maine,  concurred  in  the  general 
views  of  the  opposition.  Letters  had  been  presented 
from  different  parts  of  the  country,  in  favor  of  a  new 
organization ;  if  he  had  made  the  effort  he  could  have 
obtained  more  against  it,  and  in  favor  of  the  American 
Bible  Society.  If  formed,  however,  he  insisted  upon 
restricting  the  New  Society  to  foreign  distribution.  If 
not,  the  New  Society  would  go  beyond  the  circum- 
stances which  it  was  alleged  called  for  it.  He  hoped 
the  convention  would  not  censure  the  American  Bible 
Society,  or  do  anything  to  disturb  the  good  feeling 
which  had  so  long  existed  between  Baptists  and  that 
glorious  society.  Where  could  Christians  unite,  if  not 
in  the  circulation  of  the  (Pedo-Baptist?)  Bible?  He  was 
terrified  at  the  idea  of  Baptists  ever  attempting  a  revi- 
sion of  the  common  version.  He  hoped  they  would  not 
touch  it. 

Mr.  Sherwood  regarded  the  amendment  restricting 
the  Society  to  distribution  in  "  foreign  languages "  as 


352  LIFE   OF    SPENCER   HOUGHTOX    CONE. 

the  test  question.  He  would  go  for  vesting  it  with  that 
power,  and  would  not  go  further. 

To  make  the  record  clear,  it  is,  perhaps,  well  here  to 
state  that  this  was  in  fact  the  "  test  question." 

The  original  resolution  offered  by  Professor  James  D. 
Knowles  read :  "  Whereas,  the  American  Bible  Society 
has  ratified  the  resolutions  of  the  Board  of  Managers, 
passed  February  17th,  1836,  therefore,  JResolved,  that 
it  becomes  the  duty  of  the  Baptist  denomination  of  the 
United  States  to  form  a  distinct  organization,  for  Bible 
distribution  in  foreign  lanomasjes." 

Mr.  Cone  offered  as  a  substitute,  "  That  under  exist- 
ing circumstances,  it  is  the  indispensable  duty  of  the 
Baptist  denomination  in  the  United  States  to  organize  a 
distinct  society,  for  the  purpose  of  aiding  in  the  transla- 
tion, printing,  and  circulation  of  the  sacred  Scriptures." 

On  the  difference  between  these  two  propositions  the 
whole  debate,  occupying  four  days,  turned. 

A  small  minorit}7,  but  a  very  able  and  influential  one 
in  learning  and  position,  came  forward  to  sustain  the 
American  Bible  Society,  and  oppose  the  formation  of  a 
distinct  institution.  On  looking  over  the  three  hundred 
and  eighty-six  members  present,  as  delegates  from  every 
section  of  the  United  States,  twenty-four  States  being 
represented,  and  feeling  the  pulse  of  the  body,  the  par- 
liamentary experience  of  these  gentlemen  showed  them 
that  direct  and  unqualified  opposition  would  not  only 
be  vain,  but  would  also  react  very  injuriously  upon 
themselves.  They  perceived  clearly  that  a  powerful 
majority  were  fully  determined  to  carry  out  the  will  of 
the  denomination,  and  form  a  Bible  Society.  The 
tactics  of  the  opposition  were  instantly  changed,  and  as 
they  could  not  prevent  its  formation,  it  became  their 
object  to  reduce  its  proportions  as  much  as  possible,  to 


LIFE   OF   SPENCER   nOUGHTON    CONE.  353 

restrict  and  hamper  its  action,  and  confine  it  within  such 
strait  limits  as  would  prevent  it  from  conflicting  with 
the  interests  of  the  American  Bible  Society.  The  able 
leaders  of  the  minority  were  not  ignorant  of  the  charac- 
ter, nor  did  they  fail  to  surmise  the  purposes  of  Mr. 
Cone.  They  knew  that  the  desire  to  give  the  whole 
world  pure  versions  of  the  word  of  God  was  in  his 
heart — that  the  desire  was  an  indomitable  one — that 
between  his  thoughts  and  actions  time  rarely  made 
much  gap.  They  saw  that  the  instant  he  obtained  the 
machinery  of  a  Bible  Society,  pledged,  under  his  resolu- 
tion, simply  to  "circulate  the  sacred  Scriptures,"  the 
home  field,  would  not  be  long  unoccupied,  nor  King 
James's  Bible  long  unimpeached  as  a  witness  for  truth. 
Therefore  they  expended  their  wdtole  force  in  the  endea- 
vor to  add  the  words,  "  in  foreign  languages."  The 
abstract  of  the  arguments  we  have  given  fairly,  repre- 
sents the  tone  of  the  opposition  debates. 

In  answer  to  them,  at  different  times,  during  the  four 
days'  debate,  and  with  an  eloquence,  the  effects  of  which 
the  opposition  vainly  endeavored  to  sneer  away,  by 
stigmatizing  it  as  "  poetry  "■ — "  rhetoric  " — "  declama- 
tion," &c,  "  the  usual  resort  of  men  who  seek  rather  to 
inflame  passion  and  prejudice,  than  to  convince  reason," 

Mr.  Cone  presented  his  reasons  for  calling  the  meet- 
ing at  Hartford ;  for  forming  the  provisional  Bible 
Society,  and  finally  for  appealing  to  that  body,  the 
representatives  of  the  whole  denomination,  to  ratify  his 
acts.  He  contended  that  it  was  necessary  to  organize  a 
new  society.  That  delegates  from  twenty-four  States 
were  present,  and  the  sentiment  of  the  denomination  on 
the  subject  could  be  fairly  ascertained.  That  he 
believed  it  to  be  the  imperative  and  pleasing  duty  of  the 
Baptists  of  the  United  States  to  organize  such  a  society. 


354  LIFE  OF   SPENCER   HOTJGHTON   CONE. 

That  they  would  sustain  it  liberally.  The  field  was  the 
world.  The  British  and  Foreign  and  American  Bible 
Societies  would  no  longer  aid  Baptists,  unless  they 
would  consent  to  conform  to  the  principle  in  their 
versions,  which  their  missionaries  and  the  whole  deno- 
mination had  disallowed.  Baptists  must,  therefore,  aid 
themselves.  They  were  bound  to  give  vernacularly  the 
mind  of  the  spirit,  in  the  nearest  possible  approach  to 
that  mind  as  expressed  in  the  original  record-.  They 
had  greater  prospects  of  success  than  had  ever  fallen  to 
the  lot  of  any  denomination.  America  was  the  land  of 
Baptists.  Roger  Williams  contended  undauntedly  and 
successfully  for  the  "Voluntary  Principle,"  viz.,  that  a 
man  cannot  be  born  in  a  system  of  faith — that  he  must 
take  the  Bible  as  his  only  guide.  This  principle  had. 
been  introduced  into  all  the  institutions  of  civil  and 
religious  freedom,  which  distinguished  our  happy  land. 
He  would  say,  then,  under  the  circumstances  in  which 
the  Baptists  in  the  United  States  were  placed — where 
there  were  no  acts  of  uniformity — where  there  was  no 
union  of  Church  and  State — where  there  was  no  sword 
of  majesty  placed  in  the  hand,  of  religious  despotism, 
they  ought  to  act  unshackled  and  fearlessly.  This  was 
the  land  where  we  spoke  as  we  printed,  and  printed 
what  we  spoke,  and  there  was  "  none  daring  to  make  us 
afraid."  Baptists  wanted  no  new  Bible ;  they  merely 
wished  to  have  the  privilege  of  printing  and  circulating 
it  as  they  understood  it  now.  Were  they  to  stand  still? 
Must  they  not  give  the  Scriptures  unmutilated  and 
uncovered  to  the  nations  of  the  earth?  An  organization 
to  do  so,  would  be  the  most  popular  of  all  Christian 
efforts.  Baptist  Missionaries  have  translated  the  Bible 
into  the  languages  on  both  sides  the  Ganges.  They  lift 
a  piercing  cry  to  us.  Shall  that  cry  be  unheard?  Ger- 
many, too,  implores  aid.     Have  American  Baptists  for- 


LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE.  355 

gotten  that  they  have  martyrs  to  their  principles  in  that 
land  ?  Xo  one  was  more  devoted  to  the  missionary 
interest  than  he 'was.  It  had  been  said  we  can  send  all 
our  funds  through  that  channel.  We  could  not.  That 
society  had  as  much  to  do  now  as  it  could  attend  to. 
The  formation  of  the  American  and  Foreign  Bible 
Society  had  already  tested  the  wishes  of  the  denomina- 
tion. With  very  little  effort  $21,000  (in  one  year,  the 
first  of  its  existence)  had  been  thrown  into  the  treasury, 
and  $15,000  more  subscribed.  He  gave  a  detailed 
account  of  the  controversy  between  the  Baptists  and  the 
American  Bible  Society.  Ill-used  as  the  Baptists  had 
been,  but  one  course  was  left  them — the  one  they  had 
taken.  Baptists  were  under  as  much  obligation  to  print 
a  pure  version  as  to  preach  it.  He  had  not  called  the 
Convention  ex-offlcio — as  president,  as  was  charged ;  he 
had  merely  asked  that  there  might  be  a  full  representa- 
tion, and  that  such  as  could  not  come  would  send  their 
opinions.  It  was  unjust  to  charge  that  he  had  stretched 
his  power.  He  did  not  think  it  wise  to  limit  the  society 
to  foreign  distribution.  He  desired  a  full  discussion, 
and  a  public  one.  He  desired  the  Baptist  denomination 
to  know  what  the}''  did  there.  He  wished  to  lie  no 
longer  under  the  imputations  which  had  been  put  upon 
him.  It  had  been  said  for  a  year  past  that  he  was  mis- 
representing his  denomination.  He  wished  that  con- 
vention  to  say  whether  he  had  or  had  not  misrepresented 
it.  He  desired  to  test  the  sentiment  of  the  whole  deno- 
mination. 

A  great  deal  had  been  said  in  regard  to  the  transla- 
tors and  translation  of  the  Scriptures.  He  had  heard  his 
brethren  here  utter  the  most  singular  remarks  in  relation 
to  the  forty-nine  translators  appointed  by  King  James ; 
and  some  had  gone  so  far  as  to  pronounce  the  Bible  as 
translated  by   the   distinguished   forty-nine,  a  perfect 


356  LIFE   OF    SPENCER   HCUGHTON   CONE. 

work/  Had  we  ever  heard  of  a  work  so  lauded  to  the 
skies?  The  modest  Cary  devoted  forty  odd  years  to  the 
translation  of  his  work,  and  what  was  his  answer  to  a 
question  in  reference  to  it  ?  "  It  may  oe  made  a  perfect 
work."  They  were  met,  when  discussing  the  propriety 
of  extending  the  operations  of  the  society  to  domestic 
distribution,  with  the  argument  that  they  were  not  to 
assume  the  name  "American"  because  it  would  look 
to  a  period  of  a  change  of  the  version.  He  was  really 
astonished  at  the  trepidation  and  fears  of  some  of  his 
brethren.  He  believed  that  the  time  was  not  far  distant 
when  in  England  a  new  version  would  be  prepared  and 
presented  to  English  readers.  Yates  had  translated  the 
New  Testament  from  the  original  Greek  into  English. 
When  he  heard  so  much  said  as  to  the  "  forty-nine " 
translators  (of  King  James),  heard  them  so  lauded  to 
the  skies,  he  asked — "  Who  knows  that  they  were  such 
very  learned  men?"  He  had  looked  into  the  matter, 
and  could  not  discover  that  they  were  men  of  such 
extraordinary  and  transcendent  talents.  Where  were 
their  learned  works — their  critical  and  extensive  know- 
ledge ?  Did  gentlemen  feel  at  liberty  to  say  that  forty- 
nine  Baptists  could  not  come  together,  and  make 
amendments  in  the  version  of  the  Scriptures?  He 
opposed  transferring — because  the  result  of  it  had  been 
to  unite  Church  and  State,  and  to  produce  much  evil. 
He  was  not  disposed  to  award  King  James's  translators 
the  high  wrought  eulogies  he  had  heard  pronounced  on 
that  floor.  He  could  not  discover  foundation  enough 
for  them.  He  maintained  that  the  word  " Baptizo" 
meant  to  immerse.  He  would  r either  repeat  nor  reply 
to  the  personal  allusions  and  charges  made  against 
him. 

Throughout  the  debate  he  was  boluly  and  eloquently 
sustained  by  Drs.  B.  T.  Welsh  of  Albany ;  Cushman,  of 


LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE.  357 

Philadelphia;  Kendrick,  of  Ilamilton,  New  York; 
Professor  Knowles,  of  Massachusetts ;  Mr.  Tinsley,  of 
Virginia ;  Mason,  of  South  Carolina;  Anderson,  of 
Kentucky ;  Armstrong,  of  North  Carolina ;  Octavius 
Winslow,  then  of  New  York,  now  of  Leamington,  Eng- 
'and  ;  Soramers,  of  New  York;  J.  B.  Jeter,  of  Virginia; 
Crane,  of  Baltimore  ;  Galusha,  of  New  York  ;  Mills,  of 
Virginia ;  and  others. 

Of  the  efforts  of  Drs.  Welsh  and  Cushman,  in  that 
crisis,  he  always  spoke  in  terms  of  unqualified  admira- 
tion. He  has  often  repeated  since  that  Bartholomew  T. 
Welsh  made  the  ablest  speech  in  favor  of  pure  versions 
that  was  made  in  that  body.  The  impression  left  upon 
the  minds,  both  of  friends  and  enemies,  by  this  Conven- 
tion, was  that  a  new  version  of  the  English  Scriptures 
must  ultimately  be  produced.  The  "Bible  Repertory" 
tor  July,  1838,  in  its  review  of  the  proceedings  of  that 
body,  said — "  Eveiy  principle  of  the  movement  was 
y<  nrral,  and  every  argument  of  the  Convention  went  as 
strongly  for  an  English  translation,  as  for  a  Burman  or 
a  Bengalee.  Every  speaker  who  alluded  to  the  matter 
of  translation  at  all,  seemed  to  look,  with  one  eye  at 
least,  towards  an  English  translation.  *  *  *  *  It 
was  only  by  mutual  compromise,  that  they  confined 
their  operations  for  one  year  to  foreign  lands.'1' 

The  American  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  was 
originally  constituted  as  the  advocate  and  exponent  of 
the  principle  of  pure  translation.  This  was  clearly  set 
forth  in  the  first  article  of  its  constitution,  which  defined 
its  "  single  object"  to  be  "  to  promote  a  wider  circula- 
tion of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  in  the  most  faithful  versions 
that  can  be  procured." 

AVe  will  say  here  that  in  making  up  this  review  of 
the  progress  of  the  principle  embodied  in  that  first 
article,  we  avail  ourselves  of  Dr.  Baker's  address ;  the 


35 S  LIFE   OF    SPENCER    HOUGHTON   CONE. 

reports  and  addresses  of  the  different  societies;  Mr. 
Cone's  speeches  and  letters ;  Cone  and  Wyckoff's  work, 
"The  Bible;  its  Excellence,"  and  other  similar  docu- 
ments, using  or  condensing  their  language,  as  the  space 
which  can  be  allotted  to  the  subject  demands.  The 
annual  meeting,  in  April,  1838,  decided  the  question  of 
entering  upon  the  work  of  domestic  distribution.  There 
was  no  direct  opposition  to  the  measure,  but  some 
thought  that  prudence  required  the  postponement  of  the 
work  till  the  new  organization  had  acquired  more 
strength,  and  was  better  able  to  undertake  it.  At  that 
meeting  they  agreed  to  distribute  the  commonly  receiv- 
ed version  of  the  English  Scriptures  "  until  otherwise 
ordered  by  the  society."  The  position  of  the  society 
was.thus  established.  Its  principle,  Pure  Versions  for 
the  World,  the  English  version  being  temporarily 
excepted,  until  experience  in  its  new  duties,  and  enlarg- 
ed observation,  should  prepare  the  body  for  procuring 
a  thorough  and  faithful  version.  So  firmly  established 
was  this  original  policy  of  the  Institution,  that  the  pages 
of  the  annual  reports  and  addresses  abound  with  expres- 
sions upon  the  subject  of  the  most  unequivocal  charac- 
ter. In  one  report  the  object  of  the  organization  is 
described  as  "  the  glorious  enterprise  of  giving  the 
Bible  faithfully  translated  to  all  nations."  In  another, 
"  the  distinguishing  principles  of  the  society "  are 
declared  to  be  "  The  Bible — the  Bible  faithfully  trans- 
lated for  the  wtorld."  In  another  it  is  declared  "  Let 
but  the  Bible,  pure  and  immittilated,  be  universally 
distributed,  and  armed  with  the  Spirit's  power,  it  will 
conquer  the  world  for  Christ." 

The  third  annual  meeting  was  held  in  die  Oliver 
street  meeting-house,  Tuesday,  April  28th,  1840.  Mr. 
Cone  was  again  chosen  its  president,  and  said  in  his 
address,  that  "  In  the  prosecution  of  their  labors,  they 


LIFE   OF    SrENCER   HOUGIITON    CONE.  359 

had  been  much  gratified  to  find  that  all  the  Baptist  Mis- 
sionaries of  England  and  America  were  of  one  heart  and 
oru  judgment  with  them,  in  the  Bible  cause.  *  -  "::"  In 
the  estimation  of  some,  the  formation  of  our  society  was, 
indeed,  the  day  of  small  things.  Even  the  late  excel- 
lent Dr.  Fish  ventured  to  predict,  upon  the  platform  of 
the  American  Bible  Society,  that  the  effort  could  not 
succeed,  because  his  own  denomination,  as  numerous 
and  wealthy  as  ours,  had  tried  the  experiment,  and 
failed.  "::"  *  *  The  day  of  small  things  is  never  to  be 
desjjised,  if  it  spring  from  an  orb  of  indestructible  light. 
Clouds  may  overshadow  its  rising,  but  sooner  or  later  it 
shall  attain  meridian  splendor." 

In  reference  to  the  subject  of  its  home  distribution, 
the  article  in  the  "Bible  Repertory,"  already  quoted 
from,  says :  "  Soon  the  home  distribution  must  com- 
mence ;  indeed,  at  the  recent  annual  meeting  in  ISTew 
York,  they  resolved  to  take  it  up  at  once ;  and  then 
they  encounter  again  the  untranslated  JBaptizo,  and 
after  the  Burman  precedent  of  conscientiousness,  what 
will  conscience  dictate  then  ?  How  long  will  the  trans- 
lating society  be  content  to  translate  into  one  language, 
and  transfer  into  another?  If  the  Baptists  can  consent 
to  use  the  common  English  version  in  this  country, 
while  they  make  such  conscientious  ado  about  the  foreign 
versions,  corresponding  to  that  in  the  principle  of  their 
translation,  we  shall  be  forced  to  entertain  a  disrespect 
for  their  consistency,  which  we  cannot  now  think  them 
capable  of  deserving."  The  "Bible  Repertory"  is  a 
very  able  Presbyterian  publication. 

It  was  clearly  the  opinion  of  the  whole  Pedo-Baptist 
world  that,  having  committed  themselves  to  the  princi- 
ple of  "  pure  versions  for  the  world,"  the  Baptists  could 
not,  without  covering  themselves  with  confusion,  strike 
England  and  America  out  of  the  map.     The  principle 


360  LIFE   OF    SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

was  either  true  or  false ;  and  if  true  as  to  one  language, 
must  be  true  as  to  all.  It  was  either  a  whim  or  a  duty. 
If  a  whim,  it  was  unworthy  a  great  religious  denomina 
tion  ;  if  a  duty,  it  admitted  of  no  circumstance  qiioac* 
majus,  or  minus;  it  admitted  no  exception  on  the 
ground  of  expediency.  The  latter  view  was  the  one 
taken  by  President  Cone.  Strange  to  say,  many  good 
men  admitted  the  duty,  but  obeyed  the  expediency  /  for- 
getting that  expediency,  a  fickle  tyrant  seldom  fails  to 
prove  a  hard  master ;  whilst  God  and  duty,  always  sure, 
shelter  obedience  behind  the  eternal  fortress  of  the 
"  rock  of  ages." 

The  fourth  anniversary  of  the  American  and  Foreign 
Bible  Society  was  held  in  the  Calvert  street  Baptist 
meeting-house,  Baltimore,  April  27th,  1841. 

In  reference  to  this  meeting,  and  some  interesting 
facts  and  circumstances  preceding  it,  we  shall  quote  the 
testimony  of  the  Kev.  Dr.  Joseph  Belcher,  of  Philadel- 
phia, published  in  the  "  Christian  Review  "  for  January, 
1856. 

"  Dr.  Cone  had  a  remarkable  tact  for  the  execution 
of  ecclesiastical  business,  and  hence  he  was,  more  fre- 
quently, perhaps,  than  any  other  man  in  his  denomina- 
tion, called  to  preside  at  public  meetings.  To  say 
nothing  here  of  his  presidency,  first  of  the  American 
and  Foreign  Bible  Society,  from  its  origin  till  1850,  and 
afterwards  of  the  American  Bible  Union  ;  or  of  his  being 
many  years,  before  either  of  these  societies  existed,  a 
secretary  of  the  American  Bible  Society  ;  he  was,  for 
many  years  together,  the  moderator  of  each  of  the  asso- 
ciations ti>  which  he  belonged;  and  in  1832,  1835,  and 
1838  he  was  elected  [resident  of  the  Triennial  Conven- 
including  repr  isentatives  of  the  Baptist  body  from 
every  State  of  the  Union.  Those  who  remember  the 
manner  in  which  he  discharged  the  duties  of  this  office, 


LITE    OF   SrENCER   HOUGnTON    CONE.  361 

may  well  shed  an  additional  tear  over  Lis  loss.  !Not 
very  many,  perhaps,  who  were  present  at  the  Conven- 
tion in  Richmond,  in  1835,  will  cast  their  eyes  over  this 
page,  but  those  who  may  do  so  will  remember  the  im- 
pression he  then  produced.  The  delegation  from 
England,  consisting  of  the  late  venerable  and  beloved 
Drs.  Cox  and  Iloby,  when  speaking  in  their  printed 
volume  of  the  manner  in  which  he  gave  them,  at  the 
request  of  the  body,  the  hand  of  fellowship,  say,  '  Well 
did  he  sustain  the  dignity  of  his  office,  while  with  equal 
affection  and  eloquence,  he  received  us  as  brethren 
beloved  for  our  works'  sake,  and  emphatically  as 
Englishmen,  as  Christians  and  as  ministers.  uWe 
welcome  you,"  said  he,  "to  our  country,  our  churches, 
our  houses,  and  our  hearts."  When  the  tumult  of  emo- 
tion had  subsided,  after  a  few  moments  of  solemn  still 
ness  which  succeeded  the  president's  address,  he  rose, 
and  gave  out  a  stanza  of  the  hymn  which  commences — ■ 

"Blest  be  the  tie  that  binds 
Our  hearts  in  Christian  love." ' 

"  We  happen  to  know  that  this  statement  was  not  made 
in  a  merely  complimentary  manner,  as  we  heard  more 
than  once  from  their  own  lips  even  stronger  expressions 
of  admiration  of  his  spirit  and  conduct. 

"  Perhaps  his  talent  in  discharging  the  duties  of  a 
chairman  was  best  evinced  in  preventing  the  introduc- 
tion of  irrelevant  matter.  It  is  probable,  however,  that 
on  no  other  occasion  was  his  control  of  a  public  body  so 
fully  shown,  as  at  the  fourth  annual  meeting  of  the 
American  and  Foreign  Bible  Society,  held  at  Baltimore 
in  1811.  The  reader  will  probably  recollect  the  circum- 
stances under  which  our  denomination  was  then  placed. 
For    nearly    a  .generation   had    the   whole    body   of 

16 


362  LIFE   OF   SPENCEK    HOUGHTON    CONE. 

Baptists,  from  Maine  to  Georgia,  acted  in  perfect  har- 
mony, in  sending  missionaries  to  the  heathen,  and  sus- 
taining them  in  their  labors  ;  and  with  almost  equal  har- 
mony had  they  acted  in  labors  at  home,  as  also  from  its 
origin,  for  years  before  this  period,  in  the  American  and 
Foreign  Bible  Society.  But  dark  clouds  were  now  hov- 
ering over  the  whole  land,  opposing  elements  were  col- 
lecting alike  from  the  north  and  the  south,  flashes  of 
lightning  had  for  some  time  past  indicated  the  approach 
of  a  storm,  which  was  to  rend  the  body  asunder  at  Bal- 
timore, during  that  last  week  in  April.  One  class  of 
brethren  had  determined,  cost  wdiat  it  might,  to  seek  the 
immediate  destruction  of  the  system  of  slavery,  or  at 
least  to  hold  no  further  fellowship  with  those  who  sus- 
tained it,  and  another  class  resolved,  if  possible,  to  con- 
tinue united  efforts  to  extend  the  Gospel,  in  which  all 
hitherto  united  as  one.  Strongly  excited  feelings  had 
already  been  privately  manifested,  and  as  no  one  could 
tell  wdiether  the  awful  explosion  would  take  place  in 
the  Bible  Society,  or  in  the  Home  Mission,  or  in  the 
Triennial  Convention  of  Foreign  Missions,  alarm  pre- 
vailed. It  was  the  lot  of  the  Bible  Society  to  meet  first 
on  the  morning  of  Tuesday.  Brother  Cone  was  in  the 
chair,  and  after  the  usual  preliminaries,  rose  to  deliver 
his  annual  address.  It  was  eminently  characteristic. 
He  evidently  felt  his  solemn  responsibility,  as  giving,  in 
some  degree,  tone  to  the  meetings  of  many  day*,  and 
made  an  effort  to  ward  off,  if  possible,  the  danger. 
From  the  speech,  as  printed  with  the  fourth  annual 
report,  we  give  an  extract. 

'•  To  the  successful  prosecution  of  this  enterprise, 
union  is  indispensable.  Do  soldiers  and  politicians,  and 
men  of  the  world,  appreciate  duly  the  importance  of 
this  principle,  in  their  various  spheres  of  action?  God 
forbid  that  they  sliou.d  continue  to  be  wiser  in  their 


LIFE   OF    SPENCER   HOUGHTON    CONE.  363 

generation  than  the  children  of  light  are  in  theirs.  In 
coming  to  this  house  to-day,  my  heart  was  deeply 
affected,  while  I  leaned  upon  the  arm  of  a  brother,  and 
gazed  upon  the  Calvert  street  monument,  erected  to  the 
memory  of  the  brave  men  who  fell  at  the  battle  of  the 
North  Point,  September  12th,  1814.  The  first  names 
which  my  eyes  rested  upon  were  MeComas  and  Wells, 
and  in  an  instant  the  scenes  of  that  memorable  day 
were  present.  We  belonged  to  the  battalion  of  sharp- 
shooters, and  were  stationed  in  the  edge  of  a  wood, 
some  five  or  six  miles  distant  from  the  Point,  when  one 
of  the  videttes  riding  furiously  to  head  quarters,  deliv- 
ered the  stirring  news  that  the  British  were  landing 
below  us.  The  General  immediately  sent  one  of  his  aids 
along  the  line  for  two  hundred  volunteers,  including 
forty  sharp-shooters,  to  feel  the  pulse  of  the  enemy.  As 
they  stepped  out  one  after  another,  Wells  said  to  me,  'I 
am  this  day  twenty-one  years  old,  just  out  of  my 
apprenticeship  ;  I  know  I  shall  be  shot,  but  I'll  go  with 
yon,  live  or  die.'  We  advanced  rapidly  to  ascertain  the 
position  of  the  invaders,  and  were  soon  upon  them; 
swift  flew  the  leaden  messengers,  and  one  of  the  first  was 
sent  to  poor  Wells ;  it  passed  through  his  head,  and  he 
faintly  exclaimed,  '  I  am  a  dead  man  /'  Oh,  never  shall 
I  forget  the  sound  of  his  voice  as  he  uttered  the  words, 
nor  the  expression  of  his  glassy  eye,  as  he  looked  up  in 
my  face,  fell  across  my  feet,  and  expired. 

"  My  brethren,  shall  men  thus  devote  themselves  to 
their  country,  and  follow  their  leader,  whether  to  live 
or  die,  and  shall  we  not  manifest  equal  devotion  to 
the  cause  of  the  Great  Captain  of  our  salvation?  Do 
we  talk  of  unionl  Baltimoreans,  participators  in  the 
scenes  of  September,  1814,  preach  to  American  Baptists, 
I  beseech  you,  on  the  nature  and  necessity  of  union. 
Remember  the  bombardment  of  Fort  McHenry,  as  from 


364  LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON    CONE. 

the  opposite  hill-top  we  watched  the  range  of  each  suc- 
cessive shell,  and  as  it  exploded  groaned  inwardly  as 
though  it  were  the  death-knell  of  some  brother  in  arms  ; 
remember,  that  full  ten  thousand  men  were  at  the  same 
moment  pressing  with  hostile  feet  our  native  soil,  and 
already  within  a  few  miles  of  this  devoted  city  ;  remem- 
ber that  as  we  prepared  to  meet  them,  how  every 
avenue  for  miles  around,  was  crowded  with  women  and 
children  flying  for  safety  ;  the?i,  when  we  saw  some 
troops  from  Maryland,  Virginia,  and  Pennsylvania, 
coming  to  our  aid,  did  we  ask  'from  what  States  do 
they  come?'  did  we  pause  to  discuss  domestic  institu- 
tions or  local  prejudices?  No!  the  stars  and  stripes 
upon  their  floating  banner,  bespoke  a  common  country, 
and  a  common  cause  ;  and  to  preserve  the  bold  American 
Eagle  from  the  paws  of  the  British  Lion,  was  the  ardent, 
the  common  purpose  of  every  patriotic  heart.  We 
heard  the  immortal  Washington,  the  father  of  his  coun- 
try, though  dead,  yet  speaking — '  United  we  stand, 
divided  we  fall  y'  and  shoulder  to  shoulder,  we  breasted 
the  storm  of  war.  And  shall  we  not  much  rather  be 
united  in  wielding  the  sword  of  the  Spirit,  which  is  the 
Word  of  God,  in  obeying  the  commandment  of  Him 
1  who  came  not  to  destroy  men's  lives  but  to  save 
them  ?'  Brethren,  excuse  this  extemporaneous  burst  of 
feeling,  and  these  allusions  to  the  battle-field  and  gar- 
ments rolled  in  blood  ;  they  came  upon  me  suddenly, 
with  a  force  that  would  not  brook  control.  But  let  me 
not  be  misunderstood.  I  love  my  country,  and  were  it 
necessary  should  not  hesitate  a  moment  to  stand  forth 
again  in  her  defence ;  but  I  abhor  war,  and  deprecate 
its  recurrence  as  one  of  the  greatest  of  national  calamities, 
especially  a  war  between  Great  Britain  and  the  United 
States.  Let  us  strive  against  it,  and  pray  always  that 
these   two   nations,   now   accomplishing    so    much  in 


LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE.  365 

extending  the  means  of  civilization  and  salvation  to 
earth's  remotest  bound,  may  henceforth  be  delightfully 
and  profitably  employed  in  provoking  one  another  to 
love  and  good  works." 

The  result  of  this  address,  delivered  in  his  own  anima 
ted  manner,  was  to  allay  the  storm,  and  to  produce  a 
sacred  determination  to  maintain  the  peace  and  union 
which  had  so  long  reigned,  and  the  object  for  this  time 
was  secured." 

His  views  prevailed  at  the  time,  but  subsequently  a 
division  took  place  in  the  Foreign  and  Home  Mission 
ranks.  Of  this  division  and  its  results  we  have  already 
given  an  account.  But  no  such  marked  division  ever 
took  place  in  Bible  operations.  Southern  Bible  boards 
were  formed,  connected  with  the  Southern  Baptist 
Biennial  Convention,  but  sympathy  and  co-operation  in 
the  cause  of  pure  versions  continue  to  the  present  day 
between  Baptists  who  leve  the  truth  throughout  the 
whole  Union. 


3GG  LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 


CHAPTER    XX. 

REVISED    ENGLISH    VERSION   AND    EVENTS    OF    1849-50. 

The  question  of  a  revised  English  version  began 
veiy  soon  to  be  considered.  It  found,  we  believe,  the 
first  public  denominational  expression  in  its  favor  at  the 
General  Convention  of  Western  Baptists,  held  at 
Cincinnati,  November  2d,  1836,  in  an  address  of  Dr. 
Maclay's,  the  sentiments  of  which  met  with  universal 
favor.  "  The  day  may  come,"  said  he,  "  and  perhaps  is 
not  distant,  when  the  Baptist  denomination  will  give  a 
Arersion  in  the  English  language,  wherein  the  word 
(baptizo)  will  be  faithfully  translated."  The  idea  of  an 
English  translation  lay,  indeed,  at  the  root  of  the  whole 
matter.  Pedo-Baptists  saw  this  sooner,  and  more  surely 
than  many  Baptists.  They  were  more  logical  in  their 
inferences.  It  showed  itself  in  the  instructions  issued 
to  Baptist  missionaries,  in  April,  1833,  by  the  Board  of 
Foreign  Missions  which  met  at  Salem,  viz  :  "to  transfer 
no  words  which  are  capable  of  being  literally  trans- 
lated. "  Nor  was  the  question  of  a  revised  version  a  new 
one  in  the  United  States.  Rev.  Morgan  Edwards, 
author  of  a  history  of  the  Baptists  in  Pennsylvania, 
advocated  it.  Charles  Thompson,  secretary  of  the  first 
Provincial  Congress,  published  a  translation  of  the  Sep- 
tuagint.  It  was  agitated  in  1796,  in  the  New  York 
Association,  and  "  the  terms  of  baptism  proposed  to 
be  translated  agreeably  to  their  original  import." 

Mr.  Cone's  course  with  regard  to  the  subject,  was, 


LTFE    or    SPENCER    nOUGHTON    CONE.  367 

from  the  first,  uniform  and  consistent.  In  the  words  of 
Dr.  Baker — "If  he  embraced  a  principle  he  was  not  the 
man  to  flinch  from  its  open  advocacy  on  all  proper 
occasions.  If  he  believed  that  infant  sprinkling  is  "  the 
last  pillar  of  Popery,"  and  bad  set  himself  to  the  task  of 
writing  a  history  of  Romanism,  be  would  have  gone  to 
work  to  batter  down  this  last  pillar.  When  truth  was 
at  stake  he  received  "not  honor  from  men,"  but  sought 
"The  honor  that  cometb  from  God  only."  His  motto 
was,  -The  Bible  faithfully  translated  for  all  the  world  ;" 
and  for  this  be  steadily  contended,  insisting  in  public 
and  in  private,  on  all  suitable  occasions,  that  the  cause 
of  God  and  righteousness  requires,  that  the  Sacred 
Scriptures  should  be  given  in  their  purity,  fully  and 
accurately  translated,  to  all  the  inhabitants  of  the 
earth.  And  when  he  spoke  of  "giving  to  all  lands  the 
word  of  God  faithfully  translated,"  he  really  supposed 
that  England  and  America  were  necessarily  included  in 
the  words  " all  lands.''''  In  strict  consistency  with  his 
principles,  he  constantly  advocated  the  correction  of  the 
English  version." 

Having  arrived  at  this  conclusion,  all  his  deductions 
from  it  were  logical.  What  was  true,  was  true  every- 
where, and  always.  The  essence  of  truth  was  eternity 
and  invariability;  if  the  Word  of  God  must  be  given 
purely  to  heathen  nations,  Christian  lands  had  an  equal 
right  to  it.  If  wrong  to  conceal  any  part  of  it  in  India, 
it  was  equally  wrong  to  cover  up  or  conceal  in  Amer- 
ica. "The  sword  of  the  spirit,"  he  said,  "must  be 
drawn  out  of  King  James's  scabbard."  The  objects  for 
which  he  pleaded  on  the  platform  or  from  the  pulpit, 
were  the  objects  for  which  he  labored  everywhere. 
That  which  distinguished  him,  in  his  attachment  to  the 
rule  ot  translating  God's  Word,  from  many  of  his  breth- 
ren, was,  that  his  attachment  was  love  in  action  and 


368  LTFE   OF   SPENCER    IIOUGHTON    CONE. 

universal  in  its  character.  The  object  of  his  attachment 
was  not  a  something  not  to  be  touched  with  one  of  his 
fingers,  but  a  principle  which  was  to  serve  as  a  rule  of 
action ;  he  saw  no  good  reason  for  excluding  his  country- 
men from  the  benefits  of  its  application." 

Error,  although  wounded  to  the  death,  dies  hard. 
"Writhing  amid  her  worshippers,"  she  strikes  wildly  on 
eveiy  side.  The  pains  of  dissolution  add  horror  to  her 
crest,  and  venom  to  her  sting. 

With  the  first  announcement  of  the  principle  of 
"pure  versions  of  the  sacred  Scriptures  for  the  world," 
she  felt  the  principle  of  her  own  life  invaded.  It  was 
not  wonderful,  therefore,  that  she  should  rally  all  her 
strength  to  repel  the  dangerous  assault,  and  crush,  if 
possible,  the  enemy  who  threatened  her.  How  despe- 
rate and  unscrupulous  the  means  resorted  to,  to  gain 
that  end,  and  with  what  a  common  consent  and  cunning 
her  partisans  acted  together,  we  shall  proceed  to  show 
before  entering  upon  the  last  chapter  devoted  to  the  his- 
tory of  the  revision  movement.  Our  narrative  would 
be  imperfect  without  it.  To-day  wTe  have  the  record 
open  and  fresh  before  us.  The  words  of  his  opponents 
are  in  evidence  against  them.  After  a  few  years,  it 
would  be  impossible  to  collect  the  material  scattered,  as 
it  is,  through  an  hundred  newspapers,  issued  from  every 
point  of  the  American  continent.  Without  condensing 
them  here  there  would  be  a  gap  which  the  future  could 
not  fill  up,  and  in  the  absence  of  such  a  record,  it  might 
be  tempted  to  think  that  we  had  magnified  the  trial 
through  which  he  passed,  by  way  of  adding  a  fictitious 
value  to  the  services  he  performed. 

A  rapid  digest  of  the  whole  matter  at  issue,  from  the 
first,  and  of  the  various  pleadings,  will  show  how 
exceeding  bitter  they  were  against  him,  and  through 


LIFE    OF   SPEXCEK   HOUGHTON    CONE.  369 

what  a  ho9t  of  resolute  foes  he  carried  the  banner  of 
revision,  with  God  to  aid,  victoriously  to  the  end. 

Up  to  the  year  1850,  neither  the  American  and 
Foreign  Bible  Society  nor  its  Board  ever  bound  them- 
selves not  to  circulate  a  corrected  English  version.  The 
temporary  resolution  of  1838  confined  the  Board  to  the 
commonly  received  English  version,  until  otherwise 
dm  ctcd  by  the  Society.  At  the  annual  meeting  in  1819, 
that  restriction  was  removed.  The  Board  subsequently 
passed  unanimously  the  following  resolutions,  which 
were  introduced  by  the  Hon.  Isaac  Davis,  of  Massachu- 
setts : 

Resolved,  That,  in  the  opinion  of  this  Board,  the  Sacred  Scrip- 
tures of  the  Old  and  New  Testament  ought  to  be  faithfully  and 
accurately  translated  into  every  living  language. 

Resolved,  That  -wherever,  in  versions  now  in  use,  known  and. 
obvious  errors  exist,  and  wherever  the  meaning  of  the  original  is 
concealed  or  obscured,  suitable  measures  ought  to  be  prosecuted  to 
correct  those  versions,  so  as  to  render  the  truth  clear  and  intelligible 
to  the  ordinary  reader. 

Resolved,  That  in  regard  to  the  expediency  of  this  Board  under- 
taking the  correction  of  the  English  version,  a  decided  difference  of 
opinion  exists,  and  therefore  that  it  be  judged  most  prudent  to  await 
the  instructions  of  the  Society. 

In  the  spring  of  1850,  Spencer  H.  Cone  and  "William 
H.  Wyckoff  issued  their  tract  called  "  The  Bible  Trans- 
lated." In  one  of  the  concluding  paragraphs  of  this 
pamphlet,  the  authors  state,  that  a  corrected  edition  of 
the  English  New  Testament  had  been  prepared  by 
them  ;  that  copies  would  be  sent  to  every  member  of 
the  Society  who  wished  to  examine  it.  They  invited  its 
examination,  and  solicited  the  attendance  of  all  who  felt 
interested  in  it,  at  the  approaching  anniversary.  At 
that  time  they  also  informed  them  the  stereotype  plates 
of  the  work  would  be  offered  to  the  society,  as  a  dona- 

16* 


370  LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

tion,  with  a  proviso  that  they  should  be  printed  from 
according  to  whatever  demand  the  public  might  make 
for  copies.  The  authors  did  not  even  profess  to  have 
removed  all  known  errors,  but  only  such  as  could  be 
rectified  without  hazard  of  any  difference  of  opinion 
among  Greek  scholars. 

The  tract  closes,  as  he  closed  everything  referring 
to  the  Master's  kingdom,  with  an  appeal  to  his  bre- 
thren to  take  the  matter  to  the  throne  of  heavenly 
Grace ;  to  shake  off  the  fear  of  man,  and  inquire  only 
-whether  it  will  please  God;  to  believe  that  he  and  his 
associates  were  pleading  "  the  cause  of  dut}^ — of  con- 
science— of  Jehovah." 

Such  was  the  appeal  for  a  revised  version  of  the 
English  Scriptures.  Five  or  six  years  only  have  passed 
since  it  was  made,  and  at  even  that  short  distance  of 
time  it  is  hard  to  discover  how  it  could  properly  be 
charged  as  dangerous  or  wicked.  The  presentment 
seems,  indeed,  to  be  plain,  modest,  and  Christian-like. 
Its  authors  certainly  had  no  idea,  no  suspicion  that  they 
had  committed  a  high  crime  against  the  Christian 
world  and  the  English  language.  "  They  had  acted  as 
individuals  claiming  the  right  of  private  judgment," 
and  yet,  from  the  date  of  its  publication  to  the  meeting 
of  the  American  and  Foreign  Bible  Society,  in  1850,  what 
a  storm  of  indignation  pelted  pitilessly  upon  them.  If 
Tetzel  had  been  alive  again  to  sell  "  indulgences,"  and 
Luther  to  write  "  theses,"  and  the  thunder  of  the  Vati- 
can, yet  armed  with  all  its  terrors,  Reform  could  not 
have  been  more  bitterly  assailed.  Almost  the  whole 
Baptist  press  were  in  opposition.  They  teemed  with 
articles  of  unsurpassed  violence.  No  charges  were  too 
serious  to  make,  no  means  considered  unworthy  against 
the  man  who  had  come  to  turn  the  world  upside  down. 
"  Churches  had  been  snared  and  taken  " — ■"  the  denomi- 


LIFE    OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON    CONE.  371 

national  name  tarnished  " — "principles  of  honor  which 
are  looked  for  in  religious  connections  trilled  with."  It 
was  assumed  that — "the  officers  of  the  society  were 
taking  advantage  of  their  position,  to  induce  it  to  tram- 
ple on  its  own  covenant  with  the  churches."  "The 
plan  of  action  proposed,  involved  a  temptation  to  an 
ah  use  of  trust — a  gross  departure  from  fair  and  honora- 
ble dealing." 

Such  were  a  few  of  the  harsh  and  un-Christian 
charges  exhibited  against  Cone  and  Wyckoif,  by  the 
editors  of  Baptist  journals.  It  is  curious  to  remember 
that  the  majority  of  editors  were  also  ministers  of  the 
Gospel,  and  professed  not  only  to  preach  peace  on  earth, 
and  good  will  to  man,  hut  to  draw  the  sweetest  assu- 
rances that  "  they  had  passed  from  death  unto  life," 
from  the  fact  that  "they  loved  the  brethrm." 

And  it  was  thus  they  manifested  their  love  for  these 
brethren  whose  alarming  motto  was  "  the  truth  of  God 
for  the,  world."  They  said  they  were  "  radical  men, 
intoxicated  by  the  dignities  of  office,  and  the  possession 
of  temporary  power."  We  quote  always  the  exact 
words  of  the  opposition — suppressing  much  of  strange 
unworthiness,  but  adding  nothing  :  and  see  what  burn- 
ing ploughshares  were  laid  everywhere  for  those  two  to 
walk  upon,  because  they  chose  to  obey  God  rather  than 
man.  It  was  felt  at  the  time,  that  the  agitation  was 
kept  alive  by  a  bitter  spirit ;  it  is  conceded  now  the 
feeling  which  animated  it  was  not  a  Christian  one.  It 
has  since  very  clearly  appeared  that  it  was  put  in  motion 
and  kept  working  by  a  few  individuals  in  the  city  of 
New  York  and  its  vicinity.  Their  subsequent  conduct 
affords  too  much  reason  to  fear  that  a  veneration  for 
King  James's  version  was  not  the  exclusive  motive.  It 
looks  too  much  as  if  calculations  of  personal  benefit  and 
advantage,  or  a  sense  of  weariness  at  hearing  Aristides 


372  LIFE    OF    SPENCEK   HOUGHTON    CONE. 

always  called  the  Just,  had  exercised  the  larger  but 
less  honorable  influence. 

The  cry,  started  in  New  York,  was  adroitly  made  to 
echo  itself,  as  it  were  by  a  spontaneous  burst  of  public 
sentiment,  from  every  quarter  of  the  land.  Urgent 
appeals,  couched  in  every  form  of  language,  were  made 
to  all  the  members  of  the  society,  who  did  not  desire  to 
see  so  noble  an  institution  ruined,  to  come  up  to  its  next 
anniversary  prepared  to  put  down,  at  once,  the  dreadful 
scheme.  A  very  dear  friend  of  Mr.  Cone's,  a  methodi- 
cal man  whom  nothing  escapes,  was  at  the  pains  to 
collect  and  put  together  all  that  was  printed  by  the 
opposition.  We  have  that  curious  volume  before  us. 
It  is  a  very  strange  collection;  strange  to  see  the  word 
"  Baptist "  printed  before  the  other  titles  of  newspapers 
issued  from  e\  ery  section  of  the  country ;  but  strangest 
of  all  to  consider  the  character  of  the  arguments 
advanced.  With  one  accord  they  assume  that  Cone 
and  Wyckoff,  as  they  styled  them,  had  made  a  new 
Bihle !  and  were  bent  upon  straining  their  official 
influence  to  obtain  the  society's  endorsement  of  their 
manufacture.  And  this  when  they  knew,  on  the  con- 
trary, that  "  Cone  and  Wyckoff "  had  merely  corrected 
some  well-known  errors  in  the  renderings  of  the  New 
Testament;  that  their  work  had  been  stereotyped, 
through  the  liberality  of  a  private  Christian  ;  had  been 
published  as  a  private  enterprise,  along  with  their 
reasons  for  the  undertaking ;  and  that  their  whole 
project  was  to  offer  the  plates  as  a  donation  to  the 
society. 

It  is,  however,  merely  fair  to  allow  the  newspapers  to 
state  things  in  their  own  way.  How  far  their  manner 
of  reasoning  will  persuade  Baptists,  or  those  of  any  sect 
who  aim  only  at  the  truth,  time  must  show.  They  said, 
"They  wanted  no  new  Bible,  because  the  old  one  was 


LIFE    OF    SPENCER    HOUGHTON    CONE.  373 

good  enough."  "  It  had  defects,  but  was  the  most 
perfect  translation  ever  made."  "  It  was  a  Baptist 
Bible  as  it  stood."  "  If  Baptists  make  a  new  one 
(Translation  or  Revelation  ?)  it  will  separate  them  further 
than  ever  from  Pedo-Baptists,  who  will  more  than  ever 
call  them  sectarian."  "It  would  involve  the  abandon- 
ment of  the  denominational  name."  "The  Bible 
Society  was  not  a  proper  body  to  make  such  a  version." 
"  If  it  were — it  was  inexpedient,"  &c.  &c. 

But  not  once,  from  press  or  pulpit,  was  the  question 
asked  or  answered  by  the  opposition.  Is  it  the  duty 
of  Christians  to  remove  notorious  errors  and  obscurities 
from  the  present  English  version?  That  question, 
and  that  only  was  put  by  Spencer  II.  Cone  and 
William  II.  Wyckoff,  in  their  tract  "The  Bible  Trans- 
lated ;"  and  as  a  question  of  Christian  duty  it  was  never 
met ! 

The  excitement,  already  described,  having  been  skill- 
fully fanned  into  so  bright  a  flame,  seemed  to  lead 
naturally  and  necessarily  to  the  meeting  in  Oliver  street, 
April  4th  1850.  This  meeting  was  commonly  known 
as  the  "  Indignation  Meeting,"  and  was  called  to  oppose 
the  project,  described  in  the  Hartford  "Christian  Secre- 
tary," of  April  5th,  1850,  "  the  gilded  pill "  of  "  the 
modern  New  York  firm  of  publishers,  Cone  and 
Wyckoff." 

How  singular  the  repetition  of  such  a  sentence 
sounds  now,  when  so  vast  an  amount  of  the  learning  and 
piety  of  the  Christian  world  is  engaged  in  carrying 
on  that  project.  The  date  fixes  it,  beyond  a  doubt,  in 
the  latter  part  of  the  nineteenth  century ;  and  yet  it 
seems  almost  as  if  one  of  those  cardinals,  who  urged 
the  imprisonment  of  Galileo  for  asserting  that  the  earth 
revolved  about  the  sun,  was  yet  speaking. 

The  call  for  the  meeting  in  Oliver  street,  signed  by 


374  LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

several  Baptist  ministers,  and  many  wealthy  and 
influential  laymen,  was  addressed  to  the  friends  of  the 
society  opposed  to  "  the  project  for  a  corrected  version  of 
the  English  Scriptures,"  as  described  in  a  pamphlet  by 
Bev.  Dr.  Cone  and  Mr.  William  H.  Wyckoff.  The 
purpose  of  the  meeting  was  set  forth  to  be,  "  to  take 
such  action  as  may  be  deemed  advisable  to  awaken  the 
friends  of  the  society  who  live  at  distance,  to  the 
dangers  which  impend  over  it  from  this  measure." 

On  the  night  designated,  a  large  number  of  persons 
assembled  in  Oliver  street  meeting-house,  among  whom 
were  many  friends  of  the  revision  movement. 

The  meeting  was  called  to  order,  and  Rev.  B.  T. 
"Welch  elected  chairman.  Dr.  "Welch  stated  the  objects 
of  the  meeting.  Portions  of  a  reply  to  a  pamphlet  of 
Dr.  Cone  and  Mr.  Wyckoff  were  then  read,  and  a  series 
of  resolutions  passed.  The  resolutions  developed  no 
new  idea.  They  simply  reiterated  the  assertion  that, 
translating  the  Scriptures  for  the  heathen  was  one 
thing,  and  for  English  readers  another;  that,  although 
they  admitted  the  imperfections  of  the  commonly 
received  version,  they  deprecated  any  attempt  to  depre- 
ciate its  excellence  as  calculated  to  endanger  the  res- 
pect due  to  it ;  that  to  correct  it,  was  the  work  of 
Christendom — not  of  a  single  denomination;  that  it 
would  injure  Sunday  schools;  endanger  the  union  of 
sects  in  labors  of  common  interest;  that  to  substitute 
immerse  for  baptize  would  be  to  ignore  the  denomina- 
tional history,  and  was  a  responsibility  from  which  they 
shrank ;  and  therefore  they  resolved,  lastly,  "  to  sound 
a  serious  alarm  to  friends  of  the  society,  at  a  distance, 
to  attend  the  meeting  of  the  society,  and  refuse  the 
plates  of  the  amended  version — and,  "re-enact  a  funda- 
mental law  which  shall  bind  the  society  to  the  circula- 
tion of  the  commonly  received  version."    These  resolu- 


LIFE   OF   SrENCEE   HOUGHTON   CONE.  375 

tions  were  supported  by  speeches  winch  were  thought 
not  to  have  added  anything  to  the  argument. 

Almost  immediately  after  this  meeting,  appeared  the 
pastoral  letter  of  Dr.  Win.  Ii.  Williams,  of  New  York,  to 
members  of  Amity  street  Church,  in  answer  to  certain 
inquiries  upon  the  meaning  of  the  word  baptize,  &c. 
From  the  celebrity  of  its  author,  as  a  scholar  and  writer, 
and  the  prominence  given  to  this  particular  production 
by  the  chief  actors  in  the  Oliver  street  meeting,  it  must 
be  regarded  as  a  strong  link  in  the  chain  of  events 
which  brought  about  the  final  action  of  the  society  in 
1850. 

The  peculiar  ability  of  the  author  characterized  it. 
It  displayed  to  advantage,  his  varied  and  elegant 
accomplishments  as  a  scholar;  his  acute,  and  perhaps 
dangerous  critical  aptness,  and  his  mastery  of  dialectics. 
It  was  almost  entirely  confined  to  a  minute  review  of  the 
pamphlet  issued  by  S.  II.  Cone  and  Win.  H.  Wyckoff, 
and  received  unmeasured  applause  from  those  who 
approved  of  the  object  designed  to  be  accomplished  by  it. 
In  the  opinion  of  those  well  qualified  to  judge,  it  was 
completely  answered,  and  its  criticisms  and  objections 
disposed  of  by  a  review  which  appeared  in  the  "New 
York  Chronicle." 

The  excitement  of  the  time  has  passed  away.  The 
two  productions  must  stand  on  their  own  merits  as  the 
work  of  Baptist  ministers.  So  considered,  few  Christ- 
ians would  fail  to  remark  the  striking  difference  in  their 
religious  tone. 

The  authors  of  "  The  Bible  Translated,"  commence 
with  such  texts  as  these  impressed  upon  their  hearts  and 
work.  "  Ye  shall  not  add  to  the  word  which  I  com- 
mand you,  neither  shall  ye  diminish  aught  from  it." — 
"  If  any  man  add  unto  these  things,  God  shall  add  unto 
him  the  plagues  that  are  written  in  this  book.     If  any 


376  LIFE   OF   SPENCEK   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

man  shall  take  away  from  the  words  of  the  book  of  this 
prophecy,  God  shall  take  away  his  part  out  of  the  book 
of  life,"  and  others  of  like  import.  From  these  solemn 
warnings  they  deduced  the  duty  of  Christians  to  reject 
"  additions,"  and  to  replace  whatever  had  been  "  taken 
away  "  from  "  the  words  of  the  Book."  They  further 
proclaimed  that,  "  a  follower  of  Christ  has  no  right  to 
conceal  what  his  Lord  has  communicated  for  the 
knowledge  of  man.  *  *  *  God  has  revealed  His 
will  in  the  Scriptures.  All  speculations,  as  to  what 
part  of  this  may  or  may  not  do  good,  are  forbidden  to 
man.  *  *  *  It  is  God's  Revelation,  not  man's." 
and  the  tract  closes  with  this  "  solemn  appeal."  "  Breth- 
ren, weigh  this  matter  carefully.  Examine  it  at  the 
throne  of  Heavenly  Grace.  Look  at  the  probable  con- 
sequences oi  propagating  the  truth  of  God.  If  it  will 
please  Him  to  spread  the  knowledge  of  the  truth,  then 
hesitate  not  on  account  of  the  fear  of  man.  Had  we 
invited  you  to  conceal  the  truth,  you  might  suspect  us ; 
had  we  asked  you  to  compromise  it,  you  would  be 
reasonably  indignant.  But  we  request  you  to  liberate 
from  captivity  the  words  of  Christ — to  let  the  truth  as  it 
is  in  Jesus  go  free  from  the  fetters  in  which  it  has  been 
so  long  bound.  We  plead  the  cause  of  duty ;  of 
conscience  ;  of  Jehovah." 

These  appear  to  be  the  suggestions  of  practical  piety, 
of  evangelical  religion.  We  seek  in  the  "  Pastoral 
Letter,"  an  answer  to  them,  and  are  surprised  that  no 
answer,  no  allusion,  however  remote,  is  made  to  the 
passages  of  Scripture  claimed  to  be  "  the  Law  and  the 
Testimony,"  controlling  the  decision  in  this  case.  No 
notice  is  taken  of  the  inferences,  as  to  Christian  duty, 
towards  God  and  man,  drawn  from  the  Divine  com- 
mand above  stated.  The  able  author  of  the  "  Pastoral 
Letter,"   closes   the  work  which    displays  his   wealth 


LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE.  377 

of  learning,  and  power  of  critical  analysis,  with  a  few 
sentences  of  great  literary  brilliancy,  sentences  which 
glitter  indeed  like  polished  steel,  but  reflect  no  ray  of 
that  mild  and  Heavenly  light— that  fire  of  Christian  love 
which  warms  the  "  appeal  "  he  is  reviewing. 

The  discussion  and  excitement  was  kept  up  from 
press  and  pulpit  until  the  meeting  of  the  society. 

Immediately  preceding  this  meeting,  a  somewhat 
novel  occurrence  took  place.  As  the  first  instance  of 
the  kind  in  the  history  of  the  Baptists,  it  is  worthy  of 
being  recorded.  Before  the  meeting  of  the  society  on 
the  22d  of  May,  1850,  probably  indeed  some  days  before, 
printed  ballot*,  containing  an  entire  new  list  of  officers, 
president  included,  were  industriously  circulated 
throughout  the  country.  This  ticket  was  elected,  and 
thus  the  threats  previously  made  in  many  of  the 
religious  papers,  of  a  probable  change  in  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  society,  were  accomplished. 

At  the  annual  meeting  in  1850,  Dr.  Cone,  as  Presi- 
dent of  the  Society,  delivered  his  annual  address,  in 
which  his  views  and  conduct,  to  say  nothing  of  their 
correctness,  were  most  fully  vindicated  from  the  charge 
of  insincerity  and  inconsistency.  A  most  animated  dis- 
cussion took  place,  and  the  Society,  to  the  astonishment 
and  grief  of  many,  rejected  by  an  overwhelming  vote 
the  resolution : — 

Resolved,  That  it  is  the  duty  of  this  Society  to  circulate  the  Sacred 
Scriptures  in  the  most  faithful  versions  that  can  be  procured, 

and  adopted  instead  the  following  : — 

Resolved,  That  the  Society  in  its  issues  and  circulation  of  the 
English  Scriptures  be  restricted  to  the  coninionly  received  versions 
without  note  or  comment. 

Whereas,  By  the  Constitution  of  this  Society,  its  object  is  uto 
aid  in  the  wider  circulation  of  the  Scriptures  in  all  lands,"  therefore 


378  LIFE   OF    SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

Resolved,  That  it  is  not  the  province  and  duty  of  the  American 
and  Foreign  Bihle  Society  to  attempt  on  their  own  part,  or  to  pro- 
cure from  others,  a  revision  of  the  commonly  received  English  ver- 
sion ©f  the  Sacred  Scriptures. 

Four  distinct  rules  or  lines  of  policy  are  here 
marked : — 

1st.  The  Society  hinds  itself  to  the  perpetual  and  exclusive  use  of 
the  common  version,  without  condition  or  hope  of  change. 

2d.  It  prohibits  itself  from  ever  revising  or  correcting  it,  declar- 
ing this  not  to  be  "its  province  and  duty." 

3d.  It  forbids  any  encouragement  to  others  to  do  the  work  for 
the  Society,  asserting  that  it  is  not  its  province  and  duty  to  pro 
cure  a  version  from  others. 

4th.  It  imposes  a  construction  upon  the  Constitution  that  extends 
beyond  the  English.  For  if,  because  the  Constitution  defines  the 
object  of  the  Society  to  be,  "  to  aid  in  the  wider  circulation  of  the 
Holy  Scriptures  in  all  lands,"  therefore  it  is  not  in  its  "  province 
and  duty  "  to  revise  or  procure  the  revision  of  one  version,  it  can- 
not be  its  province  and  duty  to  revise  or  procure  the  revision  of  any 
oilier  version. 

The  Society  having  thus  decisively  assumed  an  entirely 
new  line  of  policy  regarding  the  principle  of  pure  ver- 
sions, proceeded  to  enforce  that  policy  by  removing 
from  office  those  officers  and  managers  (with  the  excep- 
tion of  the  president,  who  resigned)  who  were  known  to 
be  in  favor  of  removing  the  errors  and  obscurities  from 
the  common  English  version. — The  Bible :  Its  Excel- 
lence. 

Dr.  Cone  then  rose  and  said,  "I  believe  my  work  in 
this  society  is  done.  Allow  me  to  tender  you  my  resig- 
nation !  I  did  not  withdraw  my  name  in  advance, 
because  of  the  seeming  egotism  of  such  a  step.  I  thank 
you,  my  brethren,  for  the  kindly  manner  in  which  you 
have  been  pleased  to  offer  me  once  more  the  office  of 
president  of  your  society.  Bat  I  cannot  serve  you 
longer.     I  am  crushed." 


LIFE   OF   SPENCEK   HOUGHTON   CCNE.  379 

The  society  at  first  peremptorily  refused  to  accept 
the  resignation  of  their  president.  He  was  firm  to  his 
purpose  however,  and  the  resignation  was  finally 
accepted.  Rev.  Bartholomew  T.  Welch  was  then  pro- 
posed as  president,  and  unanimously  elected. 

Twelve  members  of  the  old  Board,  out  of  twenty -four, 
were  removed  on  account  of  their  favoring  revision. 

"  The  whole  number  of  votes  cast  was  297.  The  elec- 
tion of  all  the  officers  was  nearly  unanimous,  with 
three  exceptions,  the  corresponding  secretary,  treasurer 
and  recording  secretary — who  were  elected  by  con- 
siderable majorities.  Mr.  Cutting  (opposed  to  the  new 
version)  received  125  votes  out  of  the  197  for  corres- 
ponding secretary — a  majority  of  34;  Mr.  Piatt  like- 
wise received  125  votes  for  treasurer,  against  Mr. 
Colgate  (new  versionist) — a  majority  of  12;  Mr.  Rhees 
received  119  votes  against  21  for  his  opponent.  The 
current  evidently  ran  strong. 

"  The  chair  was  taken  by  Bro.  Sommers  as  first  vice 
president  of  the  society,  and  Dr.  Cone  took  an  eloquent 
and  affectionate  leave  of  his  brethren  of  the  society. 

"  '  I  bid  you,  my  brethren,'  said  he,  '  an  affectionate 
farewell,  as  president  of  a  society  I  have  loved — which 
has  cost  me  money,  with  much  labor,  prayers,  and  tears. 
I  hope  that  God  will  direct  your  future  course  in  mercy 
— that  we  may  all  do  as  much  good  as  such  creatures  as 
we  are  able  to  accomplish.     May  the  Lord  bless  you  all.' 

"  Saying  this  he  descended  from  the  pulpit,  and 
immediately  left  the  house,  accompanied  by  the  former 
secretary,  Mr.  Wyckoff. 

*  *  *  "  Thus  ends  the  most  exciting  and  univers- 
ally interesting  chapter  of  many  years  in  the  history  of 
the  Baptist  denomination." — New  York  Tribune. 

"The  sensation  produced  upon  the  audience  was 
indescribable.     The  strongest  sympathy  was  manifested 


380  LTFE    OF    SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

for  Dr.  Cone,  and  many  were  affected  to  tears,  not 
more  on  account  of  the  resignation  itself,  than  from  the 
measure  which  led  to  it." 

They  might  well  weep,  but  human  tears  were  vain  to 
wipe  the  record  out.  A  great  society,  founded  upon  an 
immutable  principle,  had  abandoned  its  foundation  .to 
seek  a  resting  place  on  the  shifting  sands  of  expediency. 
It  had  deserted  the  commandment  of  God,  for  the 
opinion  of  man.  Forgetting  every  Christian  grace,  it 
had  suffered  envy,  malice,  and  all  uncharitableness  to 
arm  its  hand  against  the  head  which  had  grown  white 
in  the  service  of  the  denomination  it  professed  to  repre- 
sent. Alarmed  at  the  power  of  a  principle  which  must 
compel  all  who  wore  the  name  of  Baptists  to  be  Baptists 
indeed,  and,  abandoning  every  form  of  alliance  with 
unscriptural  church  establishments,  obey  the  command, 
"  Come  out  from  among  them,  and  be  ye  separate  my 
people,"  they  consummated  an  act  without  a  parallel  in 
their  history. 

It  wras  at  once  our  privilege  and  our  unhappiness  to 
sit  through  that  meeting.  We  sat  very  near  the  presi- 
dent. Although  many  there  sympathized  with  him, 
none  knew  as  well  as  we  did  with  what  anguish  his 
heart  was  beating.  The  calm  and  Christian  quiet  of  his 
manner  was  like  the  soft  blue  of  a  summer  cloud  above 
the  ocean  which  yet  heaves  before  the  retiring  storm. 
With  bitter  and  relentless  animosity 

"  They  in  whose  wars  he  had  borne  his  part, 
They  whom  he  loved  with  a  brother's  heart," 

were,  hour  after  hour,  insidiously  aspersing  his  char- 
acter, maligninghis  motives,  misrepresenting  his  conduct, 
and  proscribing  his  friends.  Except  the  last,  all  this 
would  not  have  moved  him.  What  merely  affected 
himself  never  troubled  him.     It  passed  him  like  the 


LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE.  381 

idle  wind,  and  left  no  mark  on  heart  or  head.  But  to 
attack  his  friends  in  whom  he  trusted  and  believed,  was 
to  find  his  most  vulnerable  point.  But  what  above  all 
made  the  weapons  of  his  opponents  keen  and  dreadful 
to  him  was  this,  that  with  every  blow  aimed  at  him, 
they  struck  down  some  cherished  principle,  in  which  he 
believed  the  truth  of  God,  and  the  honor  of  his  denomi- 
nation, were  involved.  We  saw  him  walk  the  floor  of  his 
study  during  the  few  moments'  respite  allowed  him, 
wringing  his  hands  and  crying  out  when  he  thought  no 
one  heard  him — "  that  his  people  were  abandoning  their 
principles,  that  they  were  afraid  and  ashamed  of  the 
truth  of  God,  and  the  baptism  wherewith  they  had  been 
immersed  into  his  name,  in  the  presence  of  men."  We 
saw  him  bow  his  white  head,  and  cover  his  face  with 
his  hands,  and  sob  as  if  his  heart  were  breaking — and 
an  hour  afterwards  we  saw  him  sitting  calm,  patient  and 
impartial,  to  preside  over  the  proceedings  of  men  who 
were  laboring  to  undo  all,  he  had  spent  everything  he 
could  command,  money,  influence,  energy,  all  he  had -or 
was,  to  accomplish.  Watching  his  face  through  it  all, 
and  knowing  what  a  tempest  of  disappointment,  mortifi- 
cation and  sorrow  was  stirring  his  nature  from  its  lowest 
depth,  the  words  of  Lear  kept  whirling  through  our 
mind : 

"  I  will  not  tax  you  with  unkindness, 
Here  I  stand  your  slave, 
A  poor,  infirm,  weak  and  despised  old  man : 
But  yet  I  call  you  servile  ministers, 
That  have  joined 

Your  high  engendered  battles  'gainst  a  head 
So  old  and  white  as  this  !" 

He  was  a  "  slave"  to  God's  people  for  the  truth's  sake, 
to  what  he  believed  to  be  the  truth.     Next  to  that,  he 


382  LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

was  bound  to  the  good  opinion  of  his  brethren.  He 
loved  them.  He  desired  to  be  loved  ;  it  was  the  great 
want  and  craving  of  his  nature.  Nothing  but  his  devo- 
tion to  great  principles  upheld  and  fortified  him  against 
the  loss  of  their  sympathy.  A  personal  attack  was 
nothing.  He  could  easily  consent  to  bear  and  forget  it. 
But  to  find  himself  deprived  of  the  affection  of  any 
number  of  his  brethren,  cut  him  to  the  heart.  It 
brought  him  nearer  to  weakness  than  anything  else 
which  could  happen  to  him.  To  avoid  it,  to  retain  their 
love,  lie  was  ready  to  make  any  sacrifice,  and  to  con- 
cede everything,  but  principle.  When  it  came  to  thai', 
nothing  moved  him.  The  heart  might  throb,  and  the 
eye  fill  with  tears,  but  the  will  was  iron,  the  determi- 
nation to  please  God  rather  than  man  inflexible.  Had 
he  lost  the  confidence  and  love  of  any  considerable  por- 
tion of  his  denomination,  or  countrymen,  by  any  dere- 
liction from  duty,  or  compromise  of  principle,  he  would 
never  have  held  up  his  head  afterwards ;  but  when  he 
felt-clear  and  free  from  such  fault,  felt  that  they,  and 
not  himself,  were  abandoning  the  vantage  ground  of 
truth,  and  going  over  to  the  dangerous  morass  of  error, 
he  felt  the  loss  of  their  sympathy  to  be  one  of  the  sor- 
rows and  trials  of  the  way  by  which  the  Lord  had  led 
him,  and  to  sustain  him  against  which,  he  could  lean 
upon  his  Master's  staff. 

Thus,  when  the  American  and  Foreign  Bible  Society 
abandoned  their  original  ground,  and  committed  their 
great  error,  he  felt  it  keenly,  not  because  he  believed 
the  principle  ultimately  in  danger,  but  because  it  forced 
the  necessity  of  creating  a  new  machinery  for  the  spe- 
cific purpose  of  Bible  translation  ;  divided  the  forces  of 
the  Baptists,  and  postponed  the  period  of  a  revision  of 
the  English  Scriptures. 

The   party   temporarily   in    the   ascendency   in    the 


LITE   OF   SPENCER   nOJGHTON    CONE  383 

society  "believed,  as  they  saw  him  leave  the  house  on 
that  eventful  day,  and  bid  them  farewell  as  their  presi- 
dent, that  the  power  of  the  denomination  had  passed 
into  their  hands,  and  that  the  bold  and  truly  American 
enterprise  of  giving  "pure  translations  of  the  sacred 
Scriptures  to  all  lands,"  was  defeated.  Temporary 
majorities  often  make  such  mistakes.  They  neither 
understood  the  man  they  thwarted,  nor  the  principle 
they  shrank  from.  Death  only  could  chill  the  courage 
of  the  one,  and  eternity  will  demonstrate  the  purity  of 
the  other. 

The  most  violent  in  opposition  were  Drs.  Dowling, 
Hague,  Granger,  Wescott,  and  Lie. 

Against  them,  and  on  the  side  of  pure  versions  and 
Mr.  Cone,  were  Rev.  T.  Armitage,  Prof.  Eaton,  Rev.  O.  B. 
Judd,  William  D.  Murphy,  William  Colgate,  William 
II.  Wyckoff,  and  others.  It  would,  perhaps,  be  super- 
fluous to  say  that  the  minority  monopolized  the  argu- 
mentative portion  of  the  debate.  The  majority,  drilled 
and  prepared  to  carry  their  purpose  at  whatever  cost, 
felt  all  time  consumed  in  speaking  merely  lost,  and  were 
anxious  to  come  to  the  vote,  and  finish  the  matter. 
Indeed,  one  of  their  number  had,  at  the  opening  of  the 
meeting,  proposed  to  take  the  question  instantly.  "  They 
had  come  there,"  he  said,  "  to  vote,  not  debate."  Dr. 
Cone  was  almost  unanimously  elected,  but,  as  we  have 
seel),  instantly  refused  a  compliment  which  had  quite  as 
much  the  air  of  an  insult.  It  is  noticeable,  however, 
that  with  all  the  canvassing  and  preparation  on  the 
election  of  the  other  officers,  through  whom  the  reproof 
was  meant  to  be  administered  to  their  president,  the 
opposition  majority  out  of  two  hundred  and  ninetj'-seven 
votes  was  only  thirty-four  ;  showing  him  to  be  sustained 
and  supported  in  a  meeting  specially  prepared  and 
packed  against  him,  by  above  an  hundred  and  thirty 


3S4  LIFE   OF    SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

votes.  Indeed,  had  the  tellers  counted  the  Hanks  cast 
in  the  contest  for  the  secretaryship  between  William  II. 
Wyckoff  and  Sewall  S.  Cutting,  "as  both  custom  and 
law  require,  Mr.  Cutting  failed  of  an  election"  (New 
York  Chronicle).  This  was  the  actual  test  election,  and 
was  only  carried  by  over-riding  both  law  and  custom. 

This  was  of  little  matter,  however  ;  the  opposition  had 
secured  their  end — they  had  rid  themselves  of  their 
president. 

After  he  had  retired,  on  motion  of  Rev.  S.  S.  Cutting 
it  was  unanimously  "  Resolved — That  this  society  enter- 
tains a  high  sense  of  the  valuable  services  of  the  Rev. 
Spencer  H.  Cone,  D.D.,  president  of  this  society  from 
the  beginning  of  its  history,  and  profoundly  regret  his 
retirement;  and  that  he  will  bear  with  him  our  best 
wishes  for  his  long  life,  and  his  continued  usefulness  and 
happiness." 

It  has  been  said  "  that  conversation  is  the  art  of  con- 
cealing one's  thoughts."  How  near  kin  conversation 
and  "  resolutions  "  may  be  is  worthy  to  be  considered. 

He  was  even  urged,  with  some  show  of  warmth,  to 
retain  the  presidency.  This  was  done  to  satisfy  many 
who,  though  opposed  to  him,  still  loved  and  respected 
him.  His  remark  with  regard  to  it,  made  in  his  own 
quiet  way,  showed  that  he  was  not  at  all  deceived  by  it. 
"  Would  they  have  the  general,"  said  he,  "  keep  the 
command  of  the  army,  after  they  had  cashiered  all  the 
officers  he  loved,  and  taught  his  men  to  think  him  a 
traitor  ?" 

"  The  opponents  of  the  new  version  " — we  quote  again 
from  Dr.  Baker — "  might  have  been  characterized  as 
the  many  men  of  many  MiNns.  One  was  in  favor  of 
the  commonly  received  version,  because  the  translators 
had  seen  fit  to  insert  the  word  Baptize  there  (Dr.  Dow- 
ling).     Another  opposed  it  as  a  New  York  movement 


LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE.  385 

(Dr.  Hague).  Another  contended  that  we  did  not  need 
a  revised  version — we  ought  not  to  attempt  to  make  one 
— and  we  could  not  accomplish  it  if  we  did  try  (Dr. 
Ide).  He  preferred  his  dear  old  English  Bible  'as  it 
was,  with  all  its  errors  and  inaccuracies.'  A  conclusion 
worthy  of  a  courtier  of  King  James  I.  ;  but  speaking 
after  the  manner  of  Americans,  scarcely  logical.  Ano- 
ther would  have  the  version  amended,  but  desired  the 
cooperation  of  all  religious  denominations  in  the  work 
(Rev.  Mr.  Woolsey).  A  pleasing  figment  of  the  imagi- 
nation. Another  would  have  it  postponed  till  all  sects 
agreed  to  practise  immersion  (Editor  of  Tennessee  Bap- 
tist). A  truly  indefinite  postponement.  Another 
'  looked  upon  the  enterprise  as  Quixotic  ;  as  the  scheme 
of  a  few  radical  men  intoxicated  by  the  dignities  of 
office  (Christian  Chronicle,  April  3,  1850).  A  benevo- 
lent view  of  the  subject.  Another  opposed  revision 
because  Baptizo  was  the  only  important  word,  and 
everybody  understood  it  already  (N.  Y.  Recorder,  April 
10th,  1850).  These  were  a  few  of  the  strong  reasons 
against  the  movement." 

The  weight  they  had  with  Mr.  Cone,  his  subsequent 
course  clearly  showed.  That  they  failed  to  convince 
the  denomination,  the  ardent  support  he  received,  and 
the  earnest  and  thorough  men  who  rallied  to  his  aid, 
and  that  of  the  "  Bible  Union "  evinced  with  equal 
clearness.  After  having  been,  however,  for  thirteen 
years  its  president,  and  devoting  himself  with  unexam- 
pled ardor  to  its  service,  his  connection  with  the  Ameri- 
can and  Foreign  Bible  Society  terminated  under  the 
circumstances  we  have  related. 


17 


386  LIFE   OF   SPENCEE   HOUGHTON    CONE. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 


THE   AMERICAN   BIBLE   UNION. 


In  the  language  of  Dr.  Baker : 

"  Dr.  Cone  could  not  see  a  mountain  before  liim  that 
might  not  become  a  plain.  To  his  eye  of  faith  there  was 
no  formidable  impediment  to  obstruct  the  progress  of 
pure  versions  of  the  Word  of  God.  He  felt  that  the 
principle  for  which  he  contended,  must  ultimately  tri- 
umph. Let  who  would  oppose,  he  could  say,  '  My  mind 
is  steadfast  and  immovable.  I  have  said,  in  my  own 
pulpit,  and  say  again,  that  I  am  as  thoroughly  convinced 
that  God  has  called  me  to  aid  in  procuring  and  circula- 
ting faithful  versions  of  the  Bible  in  all  languages,  as 
that  he  ever  called  me  to  preach  the  Gospel ;  and  I  am 
willing  to  die  at  the  stake,  as  Tyndale  did,  if  I  may  be 
instrumental  in  giving  to  my  own  countrymen  a  correct 
version  of  the  Bible  '  " — First  Annual  Report  of  Bible 
Union,  1850. 

He  could  say  to  the  American  and  Foreign  Bible 
Society,  "I  believe  my  work  is  done  in  this  society.  I 
am  crushed."  But  he  could  say,  at  the  same  time, 
"  that  the  Lord  had  a  work  for  him  to  do,  which  he 
was  not  permitted  to  do  in  that  society." 

As  the  American  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  could 
not  now  be  relied  on  for  a  faithful  version  of  the  English 
Scriptures,  the  celebrated  prayer-meeting  was  held  at 
the  house  of  Deacon  William  Colgate,  ~No.  128  Chambers 
street,  New  York,  on  Monday,  May  27th,  1850.  It  will 
be  seen  he  did  not  permit  much  time  to  elapse.    Tho 


LIFE    OF   SPENCER    HOUGHTON   CONE.  3S7 

American  and  Foreign  B.ble  Society  abandoned  the 
field  on  the  22d,  and  on  the  27th  he  was  preparing  the 
skeleton  of  a  new  army. 

At  the  meeting  at  Deacon  Colgate's,  many  kindred 
spirits  were  present,  and  united  with  Dr.  Cone  in  a  sol- 
emn pledge  to  undertake  the  work  of  "  procuring  and 
circulating  the  most  faithful  versions  of  the  sacred 
Scriptures  in  all  languages."  They  held  an  adjourned 
meeting  on  the  31st  of  May,  and  on  the  10th  of  June, 
1850,  a  regular  public  meeting  was  held  at  the  Baptist 
Tabernacle  in  Mulberry  street,  the  result  of  which  was 
the  formation  of  the  American  Bible  Union,  with  Dr. 
Cone  as  President. 

"Whether  the  American  and  Foreign  Bible  Society 
was  formed  to  give  the  world  a  better  version  of  the 
sacred  Scriptures  in  the  English  language,  or  not,  Dr. 
Cone,  and  the  other  founders  of  this  Society,  determined 
that  there  should  be  no  mistake  as  to  the  specific  object 
for  which  the  "  Bible  Union"  was  formed.  They  in- 
scribed their  object  on  their  flag,  and  hung  it  out  to  the 
view  of  mankind.  "  Its  object,"  says  the  second  article 
of  its  constitution,  "  shall  be  to  procure  and  circulate  the 
most  faithful  versions  of  the  sacred  Scriptures  in  all 
languages  throughout  the  world." 

On  taking  the  chair,  when  elected  president  of  this 
society,  at  its  organization,  he  said : 

"I  am  very  much  obliged  to  you,  brethren,  for  this 
mark  of  your  esteem  and  confidence,  and  I  accept  it 
with  thankfulness.  By  the  Providence  of  God  I  am 
placed  in  a  position  from  which  I  cannot  recede,  until  it 
shall  please  my  God  to  remove  me  from  time  into  eter- 
nity !  There  is  nothing  in  me  that  says  go  back  !  Oh,  that 
we  could  but  hear  that  voice  which  spoke  to  the  trem- 
bling Israelites,  when  the  waters  of  the  Red  Sea  rose  up 
in  either  hand  as  living  walb,  bidding  them  go  forward 


388        LITE  OF  SPENCER  HO  JGHTON  CONE. 

and  not  fear !  "Would  that  the  same  spirit  might  lead 
us  now !" 

"  To  make  the  translations  of  God's  holy  book,  utter 
the  same  clear,  distinct,  unequivocal  voice  in  all  langua- 
ges, has  been  no  sudden  or  precipitate  movement ;  it 
has  been  my  cherished  purpose  for  many  years ;  I  would 
never  have  lifted  up  my  finger  to  form  the  American 
and  Foreign  Bible  society  upon  any  other  principle ; 
and  when  the  Society,  at  its  late  anniversary,  virtually 
resolved  to  stereotype  and  perpetuate  the  errors  and 
obscurities  of  King  James's  version,  it  was  evident  that 
it  could  never  accomplish  the  glorious  mission  for  which 
I  had  supposed  it  had  been  organized,  and  therefore, 
promptly  to  resign  the  office  of  president  became  a  duty 
as  plain  as  it  was  imperative" — Reported  in  the  New 
York  Tribune,  June  Wth,  1850. 

"  In  a  letter  to  Dr.  Dagg,  of  Georgia,  dated  June  18th, 
1850,  he  says,  "  We  organized  the  American  Bible 
Union,  the  10th  instant,  upon  the  basis  of  the  annexed 
constitution,  and  in  the  evening  raised  in  cash  and  good 
subscriptions,  above  six  thousand  dollars,  for  the  objects 
of  the  institution.  The  meeting  was  large  and  enthu- 
siastic, and  I  think  the  Lord,  by  His  spirit,  was  in  our 
midst. 

"  I  have  taken  this  stand  in  the  sixty-sixth  year  of  my 
age,  because  I  wish  to  see  the  work  of  the  English  Bible 
at  least  commenced  before  I  die,  and  because  I  thought 
the  resolution  of  the  American  and  Foreign  Bible 
Society,  at  its  late  anniversary,  to  confine  themselves  to 
the  issue  of  the  commonly  received  version,  inconsistent 
with  the  fundamental  principle  of  the  institution." 

On  the  25th  of  July,  1850,  he  also  writes  to  him  from 
Lake  Mahopac,  Putnam  Co.,  New  York  :  "  For  two  or 
three  months,  1  have  with  difficulty  occupied  my  pulpit 
statedly,  and  now  for  a  few  weeks  of  July  and  August, 


LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE.  389 

shall  seek  for  strength  and  reinvigoration  of  body  and 
mind  among  the  lakes  and  mountains  of  this  romantic 
region.     The  end  will  be  as  the  Lord  pleases. 

"I  have  been  grieved  and  surprised  at  the  result  of 
the  last  anniversary  of  the  American  and  Foreign  Bible 
Society,  but  the  misrepresentations,  envy,  and  election- 
eering tricks  by  which  that  result  was  secured,  are  the 
chief  ingredients  of  my  sorrow.  But  if  this  is  the  way 
by  which  we  may  be  the  better  prepared  to  carry  out 
the  great  principle  of  Bible  Translation,  I  desire  to  feel 
and  say,  the  will  of  the  Lord  be  done.  Take  the  trouble 
to  read  Bro.  Colgate's  questions,  and  although  they  were 
treated  with  silent  contempt  by  Drs.  Ide,  Dowling, 
Ivingsford,  Hague,  &c,  yet  it  seems  to  me  that  a  deacon 
who  has  devoted  forty  years,  and  to  my  knoweledge  has 
given  more  than  forty  thousand  dollars  to  carry 
forward  the  missionary,  educational,  and  Bible  opera- 
tions of  our  denomination,  and  is  withal  a  modest 
and  retiring  man,  deserves  to  have  questions  of  moment, 
upon  which  he  has  been  pondering  for  years,  plainly 
and  candidly  answered  by  his  learned  clerical  brethren. 
The  proscription  of  William  Colgate  for  holding  S,  true 
Baptist  sentiment,  and  his  ejection  from  the  office 
of  treasurer,  would  have  prevented  my  serving  in 
any  office  of  the  American  and  Foreign  Bible  Society — ■ 
had  there  been  no  other  obstacle  in  the  way. 

But  we  must  work  while  it  is  day, 
'Tho'  earth  and  hell  obstruct  the  way. 

"I  mean  to  unite  North  and  South  in  Bible  work 
as  much  as  I  can,  and  I  want  your  help.  TVe  began 
together  preaching  the  same  Gospel,  and  still  hold 
fast  to  the  form  of  sound  words.  Let  us  end  together, 
striving  for  the  same  things,  and  by  God's  grace,  wo 


390  LIFE   OF   SPENCER   IIOUGHTON   CONE. 

shall  soon  meet  in  a  happy  country,  where  there  is 
but  one  language,  without  obscurity  or  imperfection. 

"  Your  reason  for  retaining  baptize  is  not  good.  The 
same  reason  would  retain  pasche,  azymes,  tunicke,  holo- 
caust, &c.  Baptize  does  not  mean  to  immerse,  except  to 
Baptists.  "What  though  we  understand  it,  have  we  no 
responsibility  as  Christ's  witnesses  to  make  others  under- 
stand it?  If  it  is  our  duty  to  preach  'immersion,'  it  is 
obviously  our  duty  to  print  immersion,  and  if  it  is  not 
immersion  in  the  Bible,  we  have  no  right  to  preach  or 
print  it  anywhere  else,  as  a  part  of  God's  revealed  will. 
'To  the  Law  and  to  the  Testimony:  if  they  speak  not 
according  to  this  "Word,  it  is  because  there  is  no  light  in 
them.'- — Isa.  viii.  20.  This  used  to  be  a  good  quotation 
in  Virginia — you  remember !  Has  it  lost  any  of  its 
virtue  ?  I20  for  immersionist  versions  in  all  lanjniaffes 
univocal.  If  it  was  wrong  not  to  translate  baptizo  two 
hundred  and  fifty  years  ago,  it  will  be  right  to  do  it  as 
soon  as  we  can.  If  I  am  wrong  in  this,  may  the  God  of 
the  Bible,  in  tender  mercy,  set  me  right." 

In  his  address  at  the  second,  anniversary  of  the  Amer- 
ican *Bible  Union,  he  said,  "  "With  all  the  disposition  to 
peace  and  quiet,  which  the  great  Teacher  inculcated 
and  exemplified,  He  never  gave  the  slightest  counte- 
nance to  error;  nor  can  we,  as  his  disciples,  lend  our 
sanction  to  the  principle  or  policy  of  disseminating  as 
His  "Word,  aught  but  the  most  faithful  representation 
of  the  inspired  original  that  can  be  procured.  To  circu- 
late as  true,  what  we  know  to  be  erroneous  or  defective, 
would  be  contrary  to  our  character  as  honest  men,  and 
in  direct  opposition  to  our  duty  as  professing  Christians. 
But  the  attempt  to  maintain  the  principle  of  pure 
versions  in  all  languages,  the  English  not  excepted,  has 
subjected  us  to  obloquy  and  reproach,  even  from  many 
who  once  professed  to  be  our  warmest  and  best  friends. 


LIFE   OF    SPENCER   HOUGHTON    CONE.  39l 

Is  it  not  astonishing  that  the  desire  'to  correct  errors 
and  remove  obscurities,'  from  the  commonly  received 
version,  should  expose  men  to  persecution  from  their 
own  brethren,  to  opposition  the  most  violent,  unrelent- 
ing, and  uncompromising?  That  the  strongest  bonds  of 
personal  friendship  should  be  dissolved  in  consequence? 
That  even  church  relations,  and  pastoral  connections 
should  be  threatened,  if  we  declare  ourselves  in  favor 
of  allowing  every  man  to  know  just  what  God  has  said? 
Yet.  however  astonishing,  such  has  been  the  afflictive 
experience  of  your  presiding  officer.  He  has  dared  to  say 
from  this  pulpit,  again  and  again,  that  Christian  baptism 
is  immersion  only ,  that  if  right  to  preach  it,  it  is  right 
to  print  it;  to  print  it  in  the  Bible;  for  if  it  is  not 
In  the  Bible,  we  have  no  right  to  preach  or  print  it  as  a 
part  of  God's  revealed  will  to  man.  For  preaching 
these  'principles  and  projects  of  the  American  Bible 
Union,'  as  they  are  called,  he  has  been  denounced  in  a 
printed  'Statement,'  as  having  'departed  from  his  duty,' 
and  it  is  of  the  Lord's  mercies  alone,  that  he  has 
not  been  driven  from  these  walls  of  Zion." 

In  answer  to  some  objections  which  had  been  raised, 
he  continues,  "  One  of  the  most  specious  arguments  that 
has  been  advanced  against  the  correction  of  the  common 
version,  is,  that  thereby  we  must  forfeit  the  name  of 
Baptists.  The  words  relating  to  the  ordinance  must 
necessarily  be  translated,  and  because  the  common 
people  will  learn  that  it  is  the  duty  of  believers  to  be 
immersed,  therefore,  the  term  Baptist,  will  cease  to  be 
the  appellation  of  those  who  follow  their  Lord.  They 
will  be  called  Immersionists.  This  is  not  a  necessary 
consequence.  Episcopalians  are  not  called  Bishopites, 
nor  Presbyterians  Blderists,  although  Ep)iscop>os  is  trans- 
lated Bishop,  and  Presbuteros  Elder.  These  denomina- 
tions  take  their  name  from  the  Greek,  and  Baptists 


392  LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

might  continue  to  do  the  same,  if  they  choose.     But  is 
it  possible  a  Christian  man   can  suppose  there  is  any 
weight  iu  such  an  argument  against  the  translation  of 
God's  truth?     What  if  all  denominations,   by   such  a 
measure,  should  lose  their  distinctive  human  titles,  or 
have  them  changed — what  evil  would  ensue  ?     These 
distinctions  will  probably  not  obtain  during  the   Millen- 
nium ;  certainly  they  will   not  in   Heaven.     It  must, 
therefore,  be  of  little  consequence  what  we  are  called 
on  earth.     The  great  thing  is  to  follow  Christ ;  to  be 
His  disciples  in  deed  and  in  truth  ;  to  believe  what  God 
says,  and  practise  what  God  commands.     To  do  this  we 
must  know  what  He  commands.     Does  He  command 
believers   in    Christ   to    be   immersed    in    His   name? 
Where  is  the  difference  in  criminality  between  preach- 
ing and printi/ng  it?     If  the  latter  be  wrong,  the  former 
cannot  be  right.     A  most  strange  and  anomalous  condi- 
tion of  things  exists  at  present.     Go  where  you  will,  and 
you  may  hear  Pedo-Baptists  talking  about  the  impiety 
of  our  attempting  to  correct  the  Bible.     Their  minds 
are  filled  with  prejudice  and  misconception  about  our 
undertaking ;  and  their  erroneous  ideas  upon  the  subject, 
alas !  may  be  traced  to  Baptists !     Who  have  raised 
the  hue  and  cry,  that  it  is  sacrilege  to  '  correct  errors 
and  remove    obscurities '  from  the  translation  of  God's 
Word  ?    Baptists !     Who   have    endeavored   to    prove 
that  oaptize  is  not  properly  translated   by  Immerse  f 
Baptists  !     Who  have  raised  the  shout,  '  Our  craft  is  in 
danger;'  the  translation  of  the  words  relating  to  bap- 
tism,   will    endanger    the    denomination  ?      Baptists  ! 
Who  have  reproached   and  vilified   their  brethren  for 
wishing  to  give  the  plain   and   unadulterated  truth  of 
God   to  the   com,mon  people  ?  Baptists  !     Melancholy, 
mortifying  facts  !     The  people  who  have  least  reason  to 
fear  the   truth,  oppose   its   printing.      Bapth  ts,    '  who 


LIFE    OF   SPENCER    HOUGHTON   CONE.  393 

cleave  to  the  simple  and  determinate  language  of  Holy 
writ ;'  who  in  every  age,  and  in  every  clime  steadfastly 
maintained  that  the  text  of  Scripture  is  the  only  infal- 
lible authority  in  all  matters  both  of  faith  and  of  prac- 
tice !  How  strange — how  inexplicable  that  any  who 
wear  this  name  should  be  afraid  or  ashamed  to  print 
what  they  believe  and  preach. 

"  We  might  pursue  this  subject,  and  inquire  who  has 
endeavored  to  prove  that  the  versions  of  our  missionaries, 
the  translations  of  the  Sacred  writings,  made  by  Carey, 
and  Yates,  and  Judson,  are  '  sectarian  V  A  Baptist. 
And  who  combined  to  print  the  slander  and  scatter  it 
by  thousands  over  this  land?  Baptists.  Well  may 
Pedo-Baptists  now  lay  aside  their  armor,  and  watch 
with  complacency  the  progress  of  events.  They  have 
no  more  need  to  fight,  while  Baptists  take  King  James's 
sword  in  their  defence;  and  as  far  as  recklessness  of 
attack  and  fierceness  of  invective  are  concerned,  they 
certainly  surpass  those  for  whose  '  Infant  Sprinkling ' 
they  are  indirectly  but  most  powerfully  contending. 
The  common  version  is  exclusively  Episcopalian.  It 
was  prepared  by  the  direction  of  an  Episcopal  king; 
by  Episcopalian  scholars,  and  not  one  of  any  other 
denomination  was  permitted  to  meddle  with  it.  It  was 
designed,  as  its  preface  teaches  us  'for  the  benefit  of 
the  Church  of  England.'  Who,  then,  have  fulminated 
the  thunders  of  censure  and  rebuke  against  its  correc- 
tion ?  Have  Episcopalians  ?  No.  They  have  been  well 
content  to  be  quiet,  and  leave  their  cause  to  Baptist  pens 
and  Baptist  tongues.  Bishop  and  Easter  please  them 
well,  and  if  Baptize  can  only  be  kept  untranslated,  it 
may  mean  sprinkle,  or  pour,  or  christen,  or  anything 
else  that  men  may  fancy ;  '  and  so  they  wrap  it  up.' 

"  But  some  say  we  are  not  the  men,  anc1  this  is  not  the 
time.     The  principle  that  the  Bible  ought  to  be  trans- 

17* 


394        LIFE  OF  SPENCER  HOUGHTON  CONE. 

latecl  in  all  lands  is  generally  admitted;  that  the  com- 
mon English  version  needs  correction  the  ignorant  only 
can  deny ;  and  we  hear  of  many  who  are  willing  to 
co-operate,  as  soon  as  "all  Christendom  shall  unite  in 
the  work.'  If  we  understand  this  loud  and  oft  vocife- 
rated cry,  it  means,  that  as  soon  as  those  who  hold 
'  Infant  Sprinkling,'  shall  agree  with  those  who  believe 
it  to  be  '  Part  and  Pillar  of  Popery,'  then  will  be  the 
time  to  correct  King  James's  version;  for  sprinklers  and 
immersionists  will  cordially  unite  in  the  enterprise. 
This  sentiment  is  so  absurd,  so  impracticable,  that  to 
name  it  is  to  refute  it ;  and  as  to  the  men,  why,  that  is 
the  very  thing  about  which  the  Bible  Union  is  anxiously, 
industriously,  and  prayerfully  inquiring.  We  are  look- 
ing after  learned  men,  good  brethren  and  true ;  having 
neither  the  "  fear  of  man,"  nor  of  Pedo-Baptism  before 
their  eyes  ;  who  will  do  their  work,  in  "  the  fear  of  the 
Lord  ;  and  we  trust  in  God,  that  in  the  use  of  appointed 
means,  the  men  will  in  due  season  be  found.'  " 

In  Iiis  address,  in  1854,  he  said : 

"  On  this  platform  we  stand — the  truth,  the  whole 
truth,  and  nothing  but  the  truth — the  truth  of  God  fok 
the  world  !  Here  we  stand,  and  here  we  hope  to  stand 
while  life  remains. 

"  We  will  be  free  ;  free  to  speak  or  write,  to  preach  or 
print — yea,  to  circulate  in  all  lands,  as  far  and  as  fast  as 
we  can,  the  Bible  as  God  gave  it. 

"  I  was  born  and  bred  a  freeman,  and  am  too  old  now 
to  learn  the  language,  or  wear  the  fetters  of  bondage. 
Yea,  more,  I  trust  I  am  one  of  Christ's  freemen,  and 
the  children  of  the  kingdom  should  not  become  subject 
to  human  tradition. 

"There  is  no  sacredness  in  a  translation,  except  just 
bo  far  as  it  develops  the  features  of  divine  truth.  All 
else  is  refuse,  and  should  be  removed.     Shall  we  hesi- 


LIFE    OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE.  395 

tate  to  filter  and  clarify  the  water  we  drink,  because 
past  generations  have  partaken  of  its  impurities  ?" 

"  It  cheered  his  heart  to  see  the  society  he  loved 
placed  in  an  invulnerable  position.  It  gave  him  holy 
joy  to  witness  the  zealous  and  efficient  co-operation  of 
such  a  host  of  friends,  and  to  see  that  the  work  of 
"revision  had  taken  so  tenacious  a  hold  upon  the  minds 
of  his  brethren  in  Christ." 

"  He  entered  upon  the  revision  of  the  English  Scrip- 
tures with  clear  views  of  the  great  importance  of  the 
work.  As  he  pressed  forward,  however,  in  the  cause, 
light  increased  upon  his  path,  his  horizon  expanded, 
and  the  claims  of  duty  became  more  and  more  impera 
tive. 

"  If  the  opponents  of  revision  had  seen  Dr.  Cone,  and 
the  little  band  of  kindred  spirits,  in  Deacon  Colgate's 
parlor,  uniting  in  a  solemn  pledge  to  undertake  the 
work  of  'procuring  and  circulating  the  most  faithful 
versions  of  the  Sacred  Scriptures  in  all  languages,'  they 
might  have  been  tempted  to  say  '  What  do  these  feeble 
Jews?  Even  that  which  they  build,  if  a  fox  go  up,  he 
shall  even  break  down  their  stone  wall,'  Neh.  iv.  34. 
But  they  could  soon  reply,  '  Who  hath  despised  the  day 
of  small  things?  Behold  how  great  a  matter  a  little 
fire  kindleth.' "— Dr.  Baker. 

The  spirit  which  animated  that  little  band,  and  the 
influence  of  which  has  made  itself  felt  in  less  than  five 
years  throughout  Christendom,  may  be  learned  from 
Bev.  T.  Armitage's  account  of  the  meeting : 

"The  exciting  and  unfortunate  anniversary  of  1850 
was  over,  and  the  brethren  had  returned  to  their  homes, 
but  they  left  the  churches  enveloped  in  the  pillar  of 
cloud,  without  one  mitigating  ray  from  the  pillar  of 
tire.      When   the   day   arrived,    those   Who   had   been 


396  LIFE   OF   SPENCEK   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

invited  to  that  conference,  in  a  drenching  rain,  wended 
their  way  from  the  different  points  in  these  three  cities 
(New  York,  Brooklyn,  and  "Williamsburg),  to  the  place 
of  meeting.  I  never  went  to  a  meeting  in  my  life  with 
a  heavier  heart.  The  Ark  of  God  was  removed,  and 
my  heart  trembled  for  it.  Truth  seemed  to  have  fallen 
in  the  streets,  and  no  triumphant  "assurance  said,  '  tho' 
I  fall,  yet  shall  I  rise  again.'  We  met,  but  oh  !  how  we 
felt.  The  moment  the  eye  of  the  more  youthful  pastors 
met  the  eye  of  the  aged,  each  countenance  seemed  to 
ask,  'What  shall  we  do?'  The  moment  one  layman 
took  the  hand  of  another,  the  quivering  lip  interrogated, 
'  "What  does  God  require  ?'  The  meeting  was  called  to 
order,  and  prayer  to  the  Lord  God  of  Sabaoth  proposed. 
Deacon  Colgate,  as  the  oldest  in  the  company,  was 
called  upon  to  address  the  throne  of  Grace.  "We  knelt 
down.  And  if  I  were  in  that  room  I  could  point  to  the 
very  spot  on  which  I  bowed.  I  can  never  forget  it 
while  I  live.  All  was  silent.  The  venerable  man  of 
God  was  too  much  overcome  even  to  lead  in  devotion, 
but  his  emotion  found  vent  in  sobs  and  tears.  And 
there  the  whole  company  knelt,  weeping  for  several 
minutes,  in  solemn  silence,  before  God,  save  as,  now 
and  then,  some  struggling  sigh  was  heard.  "When  he 
was  able  to  offer  vocal  prayer,  he  asked  God  to  direct 
ns  aright ;  if  it  were  our  duty  to  form  another  society, 
to  give  us  a  clear  sense  of  duty,  and  to  open  our  way  ; 
but  if  not,  to  permit  confusion  and  hesitancy,  and  to 
throw  a  hedge  about  us  on  every  side,  with  much  more 
of  earnest  supplication. 

"  After  prayer,  a  long  time  was  spent  in  free  confer- 
ence as  to  our  duty,  and  it  was  unanimously  resolved, 
that  but  one  path  was  before  us.  That  path  waa 
taken. 


LIFE   OF    SPENCER    HOUGnTON    CONE. 


397 


It  is  right  that  the  names  of  those  who,  in  the  darkest 
hour,  rallied  lovingly  and  fearlessly  around  the  stand- 
ard of  God's  unadulterated  truth,  and  strengthened  with 
their  sympathy,  their  prayers,  their  actions,  the  unfal- 
tering standard-bearer,  who  never  loosed  his  grasp 
upon  its  staff  until  death  struck  him  down  on  a  victori- 
ous battle-field  ;  it  is  just  that  their  names  should  be 
whined  with  his  whilst  memory  holds  her  seat. 

'•Their  names  and  memories  will  be  fondly  cherished 
in  the  ages  to  come,  and  associated  with  all  the  tri- 
umphs of  God's  pure  word  over  the  errors  of  man. 
They  were — 


Stephen  Remington, 
Heman  J.  Eddy, 
Thomas  Aemitage, 

JonN    RlCHARDSON, 

"William  Colgate, 
Samuel  R.  Kelly, 
John  B.  Wells, 
E.  S.  Whitney, 


William  D.  Muephy, 
James  H.  Tcwnsend, 
Sylvestee  Piee, 
James  B.  Colgate, 
William  S.  Clapp, 
Oeein  B.  JtJDD, 
A.  C.  Wheat, 
William  H.  Wyckoff.* 

(Dr.  Elon  Galusha's  Address,  1853.) 


Alex.  McDonald, 
Geoege  W.  Abbe, 
James  Faequaeson. 
Edwaed  Gilbeet, 
Henry  P.  See, 
Lewis  Bedell, 
James  Edmonds, 


In  considering  the  question  of  "  revision,"  as  con- 
nected with  Mr.  Cone,  nothing  strikes  us  with  such 
entire  surprise  as  the  storm  of  abuse  which  assailed  him 
on  account  of  it.  Had  that  abuse  come  from  anti-Bap- 
tists, from  men,  some  pillar  of  whose  creed  was  threat- 
ened by  the  "  removal  of  errors  and  obscurities  "  from 
the  commonly  received  English  version,  it  would  have 
been  but  little  surprising.  We  might  have  wondered 
how  any  men,  claiming  to  be  Christians,  could  so  far 
forget  what  was  due  to  propriety  as  to  invoke  harsh 
invective,  and  unfeeling  sarcasm  to  aid  them.  We 
might  not  have  been  surprised  to  hear  it  from  English 
press  or  pulpit ;  but  that  Americans  and  Baptists — that 
men  who  claimed  "  one  faith,  one  Lord,  one  baptism  " 


39 S  LIFE   OF    SPENCEE   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

with  him — that  men  for  every  interest  of  whose  relictions 
lives  he  had  toiled  so  long  and  faithfully,  and  who,  if 
they  believed  what  they  preached,  were  "  Immersion- 
is  ts  "  because  they  dare  not  be  anything  else — that  men, 
every  one  of  whom  had  preached  and  written,  from  the 
time  of  their  immersion,  about  the  "  errors  and  obscuri- 
ties "  he  proposed  to  remove — that  they  should  oppose, 
traduce,  and  persecute  him,  is  a  thing  scarcely  to  be 
credited.  But  they  did.  Why?  Ah!  that  is  beyond 
the  reach  either  of  our  philosophy  or  information  to 
answer.  The  melancholy  and  mortifying  fact  stands 
upon  the  record  in  naked  ugliness.  lie  found  no  fault 
with  any  man,  Baptist  or  Pedo-Baptist,  for  entertaining 
a  different  opinion  on  the  subject  from  the  one  he  advo- 
cated. He  might  be  surprised  at  it,  but  had  no  right 
to  find  fault.  The  right  of  private  judgment  is  sacred. 
He  respected  the  honest  convictions  of  his  brethren. 
He  found  no  fault  with  such  as  obeyed  their  convic- 
tions. One  of  the  men  he  loved  best,  Dr.  Dagg,  dis- 
agreed with  him ;  but  he  disagreed  like  a  brother  and  a 
Christian,  and  he  loved  him  just  as  dearly  as  ever,  and 
loved  him  to  the  end. 

After  ages,  if  they  read  his  story,  will  view  with  won- 
der the  spectacle  that  part  of  it  presents.  They  will  see 
a  Baptist  loaded  with  every  epithet  of  vituperation,  and 

assailed  by  every  artifice  of  malice for  what  ?  For 

defending  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints.  For 
holding  fast  the  doctrines  and  ordinances  of  the  Lord, 
blameless.  For  saying  in  New  York,  when  the  snows 
of  age  whitened  on  his  head,  the  same  thing  he  said  at 
the  first  A^irginian  Association,  in  the  earliest  flush  of 
holy  zeal,  in  the  fruitful  summer  of  his  manhood, 

"I'm  not  ashamed  to  own  my  Lord, 
Nor  to  defend  his  cause !" 


LITE   OF   SPENCER   nOTTGHTON   CONE.  399 

For  asserting  that  Baptism  was  immersion,  and  that  if 
it  was  right  \o  preach  it,  it  was  right  to  print  it,  to  print 
it  in  the  Blhhp  "Was  it  not  passing  strange?  Will  not 
the  wonder  of  the  future  be  tinged  with  doubt  ?  Will  it 
not  say,  these  things  have  been  feigned  to  lend  a  height- 
ened color,  an  added  lustre  to  his  bold  inflexibility  in 
the  cause  of  truth  ?  "Will  it.  atsucli  a  distance,  be  able 
to  discern  the  cause  within  a  cause,  and  see  that  envy 
of  the  man  had  its  share  in  begetting  opposition  to  the 
principle,  or  where  that  was  not,  that  the  syren  charms 
of  expediency,  lured  and  made  shipwreck  of  the  truth, 
upon  the  shore  of  inconsistency  and  human  inventions  ? 
Scarcely  :  for  "  expediency  "  has  never  been  a  Baptist 
doctrine.  It  will  be  very  hard,  indeed,  for  the  future 
to  understand,  since  the  present  even  begins  to  doubt, 
and  other  voices  than  those  of  "  Bible  Unionists  "  are 
demanding  a  revision  of  the  English  Scriptures. 

"We  find  nowhere  so  apt  a  description  of  the  class, 
whose  burst  of  indignation  and  rage,  against  Spencer 
II.  Cone,  and  his  design  to  remove  from  the  English 
Bible  "  its  errors  and  obscurities,"  disturbed  the  quiet 
of  almost  every  Baptist  church  in  the  United  States,  as 
in  John  Milton's  glorious  "  speech  for  the  liberty  of 
unlicensed  printing." 

"There  be,  who  perpetually  complain  of  schisms  and 
Eects,  and  make  it  such  a  calamity  that  any  man  dissents 
from  their  maxims.  It  is  their  own  pride  and  ignorance 
which  cause  the  disturbing,  who  neither  will  hear  with 
meekness,  nor  can  convince,  yet  all  must  be  suppressed 
which  is  not  found  in  their  syntagma.  They  are  the 
troublers,  they  are  the  dividers  of  unity,  who  neglect, 
and  permit  not  others,  to  unite  those  dissevered  pieces 
which  are  yet  wanting  to  the  body  of  truth.  To  be  still 
searching  what  we  know  not,  by  what  we  know,  stil. 
closing  up  truth  to  truth  as  we  find  it,  (for  all  hoi-  bod} 


400  LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

is  homogeneal  and  proportional,)  this  is  the  golden  rule 
in  Theology  as  well  as  in  Arithmetic  !" 

But  beyond  the  astonishment  of  the  thing,  that  it 
should  happen  among  Baptists,  is  the  wonder,  that  it 
should  happen  in  America,  the  land  of  Baptists,  the  land 
of  free  thought.  Whilst  England  and  English  Baptists 
almost  everywhere  received  the  news  gladly,  his  own 
brethren,  those  of  his  own  nation  and  household,  were 
scanted  in  the  expression  of  their  indignation,  at  the 
awful  design  of  "  revising  "  King  James'  version,  by 
nothing  but  the  poverty  of  the  English  language  in 
passionate  phrase. 

And  yet  at  the  very  time  when  the  storm  was  at  its 
loudest  in  America,  English  Baptists  were  saying  to 
him  "  well  done  !"  Their  hearts  and  hands  were  with 
him  the  instant  he  struck  the  blow,  "  to  save  free  con- 
science from  the  paw  of  the  Presbyterian  and  Episcopa- 
lian wolf."  To  the  Baptists  of  America,  was  reserved 
the  strange  inconsistency  of  preaching,  and  practising 
what  they  dared  not  print. 

Passing  beyond  the  Baptists  of  England,  it  has  struck 
the  common  sense  and  intelligence  of  the  people 
without  reference  to  sect.  "  In  the  British  house  of 
Commons  recently,  Mr  Heywood,  the  member  for  Lan- 
cashire, gave  notice  that  he  should,  at  the  next  session, 
move  an  address  to  her  majesty,  praying  that  her 
majesty  will  be  graciously  pleased  to  appoint  a  commis- 
sion to  inquire  into  the  state  of  the  authorized  version 
of  the  Bible,  and  to  prepare  a  plan  for  the  further 
revision  of  that  translation  !" 

Who  is  Mr.  Heywood,  the  honorable  member  for 
Lancashire?  Is  he  Episcopalian,  or  dissenter;  who  or 
what  is  he?  Clearly  the  men  of  Lancashire,  his  consti- 
tuents, have  began  to  lose  their  superstitious  reverence 
for  the  il  commonly  received  version  "  and  believe  a 


LIFE   OF   SPENCER    HOUGHTON    CONE.  401 

better  may  be  made.  Clearly  enough  the  mind  of  Eng- 
land is  aroused  to  the  necessity  of  the  work.  But  where 
is  the  cry  of  horror,  from  American  Baptist  men,  over 
Mr.  Hey  wood  and  the  iniquity  of  his  proposition?  Why 
was  Spencer  Houghton  Cone  accused  of  being  a  des- 
troyer of  all  that  was  stable  in  language,  or  reverend 
in  faith,  for  proposing  a  revision  on  this  side  of  the  At- 
lantic? 

And  if  "  our  Sovereign  Lady  Victoria,"  yield  to  the 
solicitation  of  the  member  from  Lancashire  and  the 
English  people,  will  the  "gracious  pleasure"  of  an 
English  queen  anoint  with  the  magic  oil  of  kingcraft 
the'wits  of  her  revisers  to  the  height  of  infallibility,  and 
make  the  act  holy  in  them,  which  in  republican  Ameri- 
cans came  little  short  of  being  stigmatized  as  a  sugges- 
tion of  the  evil  one  ? 

In  the  "Edinburgh  Review  "  for  October,  1855,  we  find 
an  able  article  urging  the  necessity  of  an  immediate 
revision  of  the  English  Scriptures.  It  attacks  without 
stint  the  errors  of  the  received  version,  and  yet  it  seems 
not  to  have  drawn  down  upon  either  writer  or  review 
any  exhibition  of  indignant  horror ;  and,  indeed,  it  is 
doubtful  whether  the  article  cost  the  "  great  Quarterly  " 
a  single  subscriber. 

The  writer  says,  "  that  it  is  universally  agreed  among 
Protestants  of  all  denominations,  that  the  Bible  is  their 
one  great,  paramount,  religious  authority  ;  that  they  re- 
pudiate all  traditional  law,  and  human  teaching;  and  that 
every  man  depending  on  his  own  judgment,  and  avail- 
ing himself  of  his  right  to  use  it,  looks  to  the  Sacred 
Scriptures,  and  to  the  Sacred  Scriptures  alone,  for 
the  spiritual  light  which  should  inform  his  faith  and 
direct  his  conduct.  Such  is  the  theory ;  but  it  is 
little  more  than  a  theory.  If  Christians  acted  upon  it 
honestly  and  more  freely  than  they  do,  they  would  in 


4,02  LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

all  probability  find  their  differences  diminish,  and  their 
charity  increase.  But  the  fact  is,  that  the  right  of  pri- 
vate judgment  in  religion  is  a  principle  more  vaunted 
than  exercised." 

We  shall  make  but  a  single  quotation  further  from 
this  article.  It  has  been  reprinted  in  this  country,  and 
very  widely  circulated  ;  and,  indeed,  its  arguments  had 
been  presented  fully  and  strongly  long  before,  by  the 
friends  of  revision.  The  objection  that  it  is  irreverent  to 
touch  the  present  version,  is  thus  treated  by  the  reviewer. 

"  But  there  is  another,  a  more  general  and  plausible 
objection  to  the  alteration  of  our  common  version  :— it 
ought  not  to  be  touched,  because  it  has,  for  centuries, 
been  held  in  reverence  by  the  people.  We  admit  the 
fact.  It  has  obtained,  and  most  deservedly  so,  the  deep 
and  affectionate  reverence  of  our  Protestant  population  ; 
but  how  is  that  any  objection  against  its  being  rendered 
more  worthy  of  the  deep  and  affectionate  reverence 
with  which  they  regard  it?  If  their  reverence  extend 
beyond  the  respect  that  is  due  to  the  most  accurate  and 
complete  translation  of  the  inspired  writings,  which  on 
the  whole,  has  ever  been  submitted  to  the  contemplation 
of  the  unlearned  disciples  of  the  Gospel ;  if  their  rever- 
ence attaches  to  its  admitted  errors  and  deficiencies — 
such  a  feeling  is  not  pious,  but  superstitious  ;  and  it 
ought  not  for  a  moment  to  be  deferred  to  as  an 
impediment  in  the  way  of  so  great  a  blessing  as  an 
improved  edition  of  the  sacred  volume.  It  classes,  as 
an  instance  of  ignorance  and  folly,  with  the  popish 
priest's  obstinate  adherence  to  his  old  3£ii?npsimus, 
which  has  been  a  jest  amongst  Protestants  ever  since 
the  first  dawn  of  the  Reformation.  They  who  would 
resist  the  elimination  of  the  palpable  mistakes,  and  the 
acknowledged  imperfections  of  our  English  Bible,  from 
an  apprehension  of  offending  the  religious  prejudices  of 


LIFE    OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON    CONE.  403 

the  people,  are  guilty  of  a  pious  fraud,  which  though  of 
a  lighter  shade  of  guilt,  ranks  in  the  same  vicious  cate- 
gory with  the  practice  of  the  Romanist,  who  lends  his 
support  to  the  perpetuation  of  a  belief  in  fictitious 
relics,  or  endeavors  to  sustain  the  faith  of  his  flock 
by  the  contrivance  of  a  fraudulent  miracle.  In  dealing 
with  a  book,  of  which  divine  truth  is  the  argument, 
nothing  ought  to  be  regarded,  but  the  means  of  render- 
ing it  the  most  distinct  and  perfect  reflection  of  that 
truth ;  aud  if  our  present  translation  do  not  afford  such 
a  distinct  and  perfect  reflection,  it  ought  to  be  subjected 
to  a  course  of  continuous  and  careful  revision,  till  it 
shall.  *  -  *  Whatever  course  our  ecclesiastical 
authorities  may  pursue,  they  may  depend  upon  it,  that 
the  Bible  will  not  long  be  allowed  to  remain  in  its 
present  mutilated  and  unsatisfactory  condition.  What- 
ever the  public  demand  will  in  some  shape  be  supplied." 
On  this  point  of  superstitious  regard,  so  forcibly  put 
by  the  reviewer,  we  rind  a  very  striking  illustration  in  a 
sermon  delivered  in  1852,  by  Rev.  R.  H.  Xeale,  of  Bos- 
ton, before  the  governor  and  legislature  of  Massachusetts. 
At  page  ten  of  the  sermon,  he  says,  "  It  is  recorded 
of  the  Alexandrian  fathers,  that  in  their  honest  inten- 
tion to  develop  the  true  sense  of  Scripture,  they  inserted 
a  punctuation  mark  after  tV,  in  the  3d  verse  of  1st  chap, 
of  the  Gospel  of  John.  The  conscientious  Chrysostom 
was  greatly  alarmed  at  this  proceeding,  and  denounced 
it  as  rank  heresy.  Epiphanius,  still  more  zealous, 
declared  it  an  act  of  blasphemy  and  a  sin  against  the 
Holy  Ghost.  Excitement  rose  high  in  the  theological 
world.  Wise  heads  combined  to  stay  the  ^reading  evil. 
.Viul  thus,  on  account  of  a  single  dot,  the  perilous  work 
of  punctuating  the  inspired  volume  was  delayed  for 
years."  If  this  is  the  view  given  of  those  who  opposed 
what  they  deemed  an  unjustifiable  meddling  with  the 


401  LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

sacred  text,  we  hardly  knew  how  Dr.  ISTeale  would 
write  of  those  who  opposed  the  removal  of  known  errors 
from  a  translation y  who  caused  "excitement  to  rise  so 
high  in  the  theological  world "  of  Baptists ;  and  so 
many  of  whose  "  wise  heads  combined  to  stay  the 
spreading  evil." 

In  its  issue  of  January  17th,  1856,  The  "Christian 
Intelligencer,"  one  of  the  oldest  and  ablest  journals 
in  America,  and  an  organ  of  the  Dutch  Reformed 
Church,  speaking  of  the  writer  of  the  review  above 
quoted,  says,  "  He  shows  conclusively,  we  think,  that  it 
(revision  of  common  English  version)  is  demanded  by 
every  consideration  of  truth  and  duty."  Strong  testi- 
mony, surely,  as  to  the  character  of  the  English  wit- 
ness. 

In  the  Lower  House  of  Convocation  (Church  of 
England)  Canon  Selwyn  has  given  notice  of  a  motion 
"  to  propose  a  petition  to  the  Upper  House,  requesting 
his  grace  and  their  lordships,  to  take  into  their  consid- 
eration the  subject  of  an  address  to  the  crown,  praying 
that  Her  Most  Gracious  Majesty  may  be  pleased  to 
appoint  a  body  of 'learned  men,  well-skilled  in  the  orig- 
inal language  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  to  consider  on 
such  amendments  of  the  authorized  version  as  have 
been  already  proposed,  and  to  receive  suggestions  from 
all  persons  who  may  be  willing  to  offer  them  ;  to  com- 
municate with  foreign  scholars  on  difficult  passages 
when  it  may  be  deemed  advisable  ;  to  examine  the 
marginal  readings  which  appear  to  have  been  introduc- 
ed into  some  editions,  since  the  year  1611  ;  to  point  out 
such  words  and  phrases  as  have  either  changed  their 
meaning,  or  become  obsolete  in  the  lapse  of  time." 

Of  all  the  objections  brought  against  the  Bible  Union, 
that  of  sectarianism  seemed  to  Mr.  Cone  the  strangest. 
And  yet  it  was  one  most  frequently  urged,  and  indeed, 


LIFE    OF    SFENCER   HOUGHTON    CONE.  405 

coming  from  the  highest  Baptist  quarters,  had  met  him 
at  every  step  of  his  course,  from  the  first  public  expres- 
sion of  his  sentiment  in  favor  of  pure  versions,  at  Salem 
in  1S33,  down  to  the  close  of  his  life. 

He  urged  in  his  addresses  that  the  Bible — the  "Word  of 
God — was  The  Truth;  that  The  Truth  could  not  be 
sectarian ;  how  then  could  a  society  whose  fundamental 
and  controlling  principle  was,  The  pure  Word  of  God 
for  all  the  world,be  properly  charged  with  sectarianism? 

Other  Bible  societies  have  hedged  about  their  trans- 
lators with  constitutional  barriers  of  sects,  creeds,  and 
"  received  versions,"  allowing  them  to  "  consult  God  no 
further  than  sectarian  influence  would  permit ;  making 
sectarian  tenets  the  test  and  limit  of  the  perfection  of 
their  versions." — Rev.  D.  R.  Campbell,  Ky. 

The  Bible  Union  is  founded  on  the  simple  principle 
of  "  The  Bible  faithfully  translated  for  all  the  world," 
and  its  grand  direction  to  all  the  translators  employed  is 
"give  the  exact  meaning  of  the  inspired  text." 

How  then  other  Bible  societies  could  be  catholic,  and 
the  Bible  Union  sectarian,  was  to  him  both  a  logical 
and  a  religious  puzzle. 

Elder  Isaac  Erret,  of  Warren,  Ohio,  in  an  address 
before  the  Bible  Union,  in  1856,  adverting  to  this  objec- 
tion, says  very  forcibly  and  eloquently : 

"The  work  of  the  American  Bible  Union  is,  in  the 
true  sense  of  the  word,  catholic.  That  is  to  say,  it  is 
not  sectarian.  It  demands  the  faithful  translation  of 
the  Scriptures  of  truth  on  no  low  party  plea.  It  asks  it, 
irrespective  of  partisan  interests  or  aims.  It  says,  if  the 
■party  cannot  be  sustained  by  the  pure  Word  of  God,  let 
the  party  perish.  Every  man  coming  into  this  movement 
says,  I  recognize  its  claims  as  superior  to  party  interests. 
If  my  party,  in  any  of  its  peculiarities,  cannot  be  sustain- 
ed bv  the  pure  Word  of  God,  let  those  peculiarities  be 


406  LIFE   OF   SPENCER    BOUGHT DN   CONE. 

given  to  the  winds,  like  the  chaff  of  the  summer  thresh- 
ing-floor. '  What  is  the  chaff  to  the  wheat  V  If  any 
other  party  can  find  countenance  in  a  faithful  transla- 
tion for  anything  which  I  have  disapproved,  so  let  it 
be  ;  I  will  not  be  found  fighting  against  God.  In  this 
point  of  view,  the  Bible  Union  movement  is  a  most 
noble  triumph  over  selfish  and  party  aims  and  inspira- 
tions. It  knows  no  party.  It  is  determined  to  know 
none.  The  impulse  it  will  give  in  the  direction  of  a 
catholic  spirit,  and  catholic  Christian  enterprise,  cannot 
be  estimated  either  in  force  or  value.  Often  do  I  thank 
God  for  this  precious  development  of  the  true  catholic 
spirit,  and  pray  that  it  may  never  be  grieved  away  by 
sectarian  strife,  or  disturbed  by  a  single  discord. 
Sectarianism  is  the  bane  of  modern   Christian    enter- 

"  Is  it  too  much  to  hope  that  the  American  Bible 
Union,  advocating  the  pure  Word  of  God  in  faithful 
translations,  though  it  seems  like  a  very  feeble  instru- 
mentality, may,  by  gentleness  and  perseverance,  prevail 
against  a  thousand  discordant  tongues,  and  gather  round 
it  steadily  the  sympathies,  and  prayers,  and  lives  of 
those  who  fear  God,  until  all  the  harsh  and  grating 
sounds  of  sectarian  strife  shall  be  drowned  in  the  rich, 
full,  swelling  harmonies  and  melodies  of  the  united 
children  of  God?  Surely,  if  this  may  be,  earth  has 
never  yet  heard  so  glad  a  song;  heaven  has  not  yet 
been  addressed  in  strains  so  triumphant  as  shall  then  go 
up  from  the  one  body.  It  will  be  like  Milton's  'seven- 
fold chorus  of  hallelujahs  and  harping  symphonies." 
May  God  hasten  it  in  His  time." 

So  too,  Dr.  Conant,  of  Rochester  University,  speaking 
of  the  fear  that  their  peculiar  religious  tenets  would 
give  color  to  the  work  of  revisors  says,  "The  apprehen- 
sion that  the  peculiar  theologica.  views  of  the  revisors 


LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE.  407 

•would  appear  in  the  revision  was  groundless,  Biblical 
interpretation  was  one  thing,  and  translation  was  another. 
*  *  *  Should  a  translator  color  his  revision  by  his 
theological  views,  the  philologist  will  find  him  out.  De- 
pend upon  it,  the  work  of  this  Union  is  so  guarded  by  its 
congress  of  living  scholars,  by  the  light  from  the  past 
shed  upon  their  labor,  and  by  the  ordeal  of  criticism  to 
which  it  must  be  subjected,  that  we  are  confident  it  will 
attain  to  the  nearest  possible  approach  to  perfection." 
In  the  same  address,  Dr.  Conant  said,  "In  all  enterprises 
of  this  kind,  the  common  people  take  the  lead,  the  learned 
ahoays  follow"  Coming  from  the  source  it  did,  this 
sentiment  made  a  strong  impression  on  us,  and  we  could 
not  refrain  from  quoting  it  here,  thus  abruptly  and  dis- 
connectedly. It  is  a  beautiful  illustration  of  the  modesty 
of  true  learning,  and  it  leads  us  naturally  back  to  the 
subject  of  this  memoir.  He  thoroughly  understood  and 
appreciated  this  great  truth.  His  conduct  was  shaped 
by  it  steadily  to  the  end ;  and  to  the  fact  of  his  never 
for  a  moment,  either  forgetting  or  undervaluing  it, 
much  of  his  ability  to  aid  so  efficiently  in  the  accom- 
plishment of  the  great  objects  for  which  he  toiled,  must, 
humanly  speaking,  be  attributed. 

One  of  the  ablest,  perhaps  the  ablest,  and  certainly 
one  of  the  honestest  of  those  ministers  of  his  own  deno- 
mination who  opposed  all  his  plans  for  pure  versions,  is 
reported  to  have  said,  "I  have  opposed  Spencer  Ii. 
Cone  twice,  and  each  time  I  certainly  thought  I  had  the 
denomination  with  me,  but  somehow  or  other  it  has 
gone  with  him.  I  believe,  after  all,  he  knows  the  people 
better  than  I  do."  Speaking  of  some  other  traits  of  his 
character,  and  of  the  value  of  his  services,  Dr.  Baker 
says: 

"For  the  prosperity  that  has  attended  the  Bible 
revision  enterprise,  it  has,  under  God,  been   largely 


4:08  LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON    CONE. 

indebted  to  Dr.  Cone.  From  his  native  ability,  gracious 
endowment,  long  experience,  and  rare  efficiency,  he 
was  eminently  qualified  to  be  useful  in  such  an  enter- 
prise. This  work  secured  for  itself  the  warmest  fellow- 
ship of  his  generous  heart,  for  while  he  possessed  an 
intense  affection  for  the  Bible,  his  love  was  not  a  super- 
stitious regard  for  the  defects  or  faults  of  a  translation 
of  God's  Word.  He  desired  that  the  mirror  which 
reflected  the  face  of  his  God  and  Saviour,  should  have  a 
polished  and  speckless  surface.  As  one  of  '  God's 
freemen,'  he  felt  that  he  had  a  natural  and  inalienable 
right  to  worship  God  according  to  the  dictates  of  his 
own  conscience ;  but  he  knew  that  conscience  was  not 
the  rule  of  action,  but  the  faculty  of  judging  ourselves 
by  a  rule,  and  that  this  rule  is  the  word  of  God.  When 
he  would  settle  the  question,  'What  is  right?  he  would 
ask  '  what  saith  the  Scriptures  V  He  knew  that  to  be 
prepared  to  do  right  we  must  first  form  a  right  judg- 
ment of  the  word  itself,  and  that  it  was  our  duty  to 
have  our  conscience  first  directed  by  the  Scriptures,  and 
then  to  have  our  lives  guided  by  our  conscience. 
Hence  he  felt  it  to  be  important  to  know  what  was  truly 
'  the  word  of  God,''  and  all  defects  and  errors  of  transla- 
tion he  rejected  as  no  part  of  that  word.  With  him  the 
simple  question  was,  '  What  is  the  truth  V  and  his 
motto,  '  Buy  the  truth  and  sell  it  not.'  This  ardent  love 
to  truth  made  him  a  revisionist,  and  called  out  all  his 
energies  in  that  holy  work.  'He  chose  the  right  and 
adhered  to  it.' 

"The  wide-spread  influence  of  Dr.  Cone,  carried 
great  weight  with  it  into  the  revision  enterprise.  His 
name  was  a  tower  of  strength  to  the  Bible  Union.  In 
the  great  Missionary,  Bible,  and  kindred  enterprises,  he 
had  held  many  important  trusts,  and  had  always  ful- 
filled his  high  responsibilities  with  uncommon  energy 


LIFE   OF    SPENCER   IIOUGIITOX    CONE. 


409 


and  fidelity.     This  tried  fidelity  inspired  confidence,  and 
secured  co-operation  in  that  work. 

"  As  his  life  was  one  of  intense  activity,  he  found  time 
to  consummate  for  the  society  a  vast  amount  of  labor. 
His  executive  ability  was  very  great.  He  knew  what 
ought  to  be  done,  and  how  to  do  it ;  and  he  loved  to 
work  for  the  institution.  All  the  great  aims  of  his 
Christian  life  converged  towards  the  objects  contem- 
plated by  it.  During  the  last  five  years  these  objects 
largely  engrossed  his  attention.  Seldom  a  day  passed 
that  he  did  not  spend  a  part  at  the  Bible  rooms.  He 
originated  its  valuable  library,  and  contributed  most 
largely  to  its  stock  of  recondite  works.  And  he  person- 
ally secured  many  liberal  contributions  to  the  treasury. 
His  energies  were  so  essentially  interwoven  with  the 
society,  that  he  seemed  to  be  an  essential  portion  of  it. 

Of  the  high  qualifications  of  Dr.  Cone  as  a  presiding 
officer,  it  is  not  necessary  for  me  to  speak.  '  No  other 
minister  among  us  was  so  often  called  to  preside  over 
the  deliberations  of  his  brethren,  and  few  men,  in  any 
circles,  knew  so  well  how  to  discharge  the  delicate  and 
important  trust  of  a  presiding  officer.' 

"  In  contending  for  the  principles  of  pure  versions  in 
all  languages,  the  English  not  excepted,  he  was  called 
to  endure  obloquy  and  and  reproach,  even  from  many 
who  once  professed  to  be  his  warmest  and  best  friends. 
He  encountered  opposition  the  most  violent,  unrelenting 
and  uncompromising.  He  saw  the  strongest^  ties  of 
friendship  dissolved,  and  even  his  church  relations  and 
pastoral  connections  threatened,  because  of  his  adhesion 
to  this  principle.  His  warm  and  generous  nature 
keenly  felt  such  treatment  from  his  brethren.  Had  he 
met  opposition  and  reproach  from  an  enemy,  he  could 
have  borne  it.  But  thus  to  be  cut  oft'  from  Christian 
fellowship,  from  brethren  that  he  had  loved,  and  to  have 

18 


410  LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

to  bear  their  reproaches,  was  to  him  an  afflictive 
experience. 

"  The  fortitude  of  superior  minds  under  unmerited 
reproach,  does  not  result  from  hardihood  of  feeling  ;  that 
is  the  unenvied  privilege  of  the  leader  of  the  mob,  who 
addresses  himself  to  the  worst  passions  of  our  nature, 
because  they  are  the  most  easily  excited  ;  whose  work  is 
defamation,  and  who  has  no  character  of  his  own  to  lose. 
In  a  virtuous  mind,  fortitude  under  calumny  and  injus- 
tice is  the  result  of  principle,  struggling  against  feelings 
which  are  acute  and  sensitive,  and  deeply  seated  in  the 
soul.  The  struggle  is  always  painful,  and  if  in  public, 
the  consciousness  of  rectitude  supports,  and  the  brow  is 
consequently  tranquil  and  serene  ;  yet,  in  secrecy,  the 
power  of  feeling  prevails,  and  the  eye  poureth  forth  tears 
unto  God." 

"  Dr.  Cone  felt  deeply  the  opposition  and  persecution, 
to  which  he  was  exposed  in  the  new  version  enterprise. 
He  said — "  My  reputation  is  dear  to  me,  to  my  wife  and 
children,  and  I  will  defend  them  as  long  as  I  am  able." 
But  he  was  religiously  inflexible  alike  through  evil 
report,  and  through  good  report.  His  convictions  of 
duty  were  intelligent  and  sincere,  and  he  was  prepared 
to  carry  them  out  in  action,  fearless  of  consequences. 
If  the  Bible  question  must  be  turned  into  one  of  per- 
sonal hostility,  and  waging  "  war  to  the  knife,"  his  reply 
was  "  my  mind  is  steadfast  and  immovable,  and  I  am 
willing  to  die  at  the  stake  as  Tyndale  died,  if  I  may  be 
instrumental  in  giving  to  my  own  countrymen  a  correct 
version  of  the  Bible." 

Such  is  the  testimony  of  those  who  knew  him  best ; 
of  those  whose  minds,  "  enlightened  from  above,"  sym- 
pathized with  the  vast  beneficence  of  the  principle,  of 
which  he  was  the  unfaltering  champion.  The  ideas  he 
sowed  broadcast  through  the  world  for  twenty  years, 


LITE   OF    SPENCEK   HOUGHTON   CONE.  411 

are  already  springing  up,  and  "  the  seed  time  and  the 
harvest  "  are  nigh  at  hand.  England  and  America  have 
already  replied  to  his  summons,  and  the  voice  "  that 
•was  poured  on  the  free  winds  far,"  although  silent  now 
for  ever  upon  earth,  has  found  a  thousand  undying 
echoes  to  reiterate  its  demands,  with  a  power  that  will 
not  be  denied. 

Yiew  his  course  from  what  stand  point  we  will,  its 
resoluteness  and  consistency  must  be  conceded  at  once. 

He  commenced  his  public  and  determinate  opposi- 
tion to  the  "  errors  and  obscurities  "  of  our  present 
English  version  the  moment  the  American  Bible  Society 
passed  their  uncatholic  resolution  of  February  17th, 
1835.  He  avowed  the  principle  then  ;  he  never  swerved 
from  it  afterwards.  To  carry  it  out  he  formed  the 
American  and  Foreign  Bible  Society.  That  Society 
failed  of  its  high  mission.  Age  had  found  him  and  the 
work  was  not  commenced,  the  night  was  at  hand  and 
the  enemy  yet  held  possession  of  the  battle-field.  He 
saw  the  columns  of  his  people  wavering  and  uncertain, 
or  flying  ignominiously  from  the  field.  Like  the  gal- 
lant Desaix,  when  he  rode  upon  the  field  of  Mar- 
engo, after  that  day  of  gigantic  war,  when  the  sun  was 
dropping  slowly  down  behind  the  mountains,  and  the 
wearied  French  were  sullenly  retiring  before  the  Aus- 
trian charge,  he  exclaimed  "  the  battle  is  lost,  but  there 
is  day -light  enough  left  to  win  another,"  and  he  founded 
the  Bible  Union.  God  spared  him  to  do  it.  It  was  his 
work.  His  Master  had  set  it  to  him  to  do.  It  was  not 
written  that  the  Lord's  host  should  be  defeated. 

In  all  the  war,  and  it  was  a  "  war  to  the  knife," 
amongst  the  many  who  stood  by  him,  William  H. 
"Wyckoff  was  one  of  the  men  whose  "convictions  of 
duty"  were  as  intelligent  as  his  own,  and  who  never 
hesitated  or  failed  him.  They  labored  together  from 
the  first,  and  Mr.  Cone  relied  upon  him  in  every  emer- 


412  LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

gency  as  a  faithful  friend,  wise  in#counsel,  patient  in 
trial,  and  resolute  in  action.  Their  names  appear  so 
often  together  in  the  published  history  of  the  movement, 
and  Mr.  Wyckoff's  character  and  services  are  so  well 
known,  that  our  testimony  may  appear  superfluous. 
We,  however,  who  know  more  intimately  how  much  he 
did  to  comfort,  support,  and  strengthen  the  leader 
whom  he  loved,  and  under  whom  he  fought  with  so 
happy  a  bravery,  cannot  permit  ourselves  to  fail  in 
offering  a  just  tribute  to  his  affection  for  the  man,  and 
his  loyalty  to  the  principle.  In  originating  the  move- 
ment for  the  revision  of  the  English  Scriptures,  and  by 
the  force  of  his  character,  the  popularity  of  his  name, 
the  energy  of  his  will,  and  the  untiring  devotion  of  his 
talents  and  his  time,  to  placing  the  society,  whose  busi- 
ness it  is  to  carry  out  and  perfect  the  work,  so  far  as 
human  instrumentality  may,  by  God's  grace,  achieve  it 
■ — in  a  position  of  such  influence  and  prosperity,  as  to 
insure  its  ultimate  success,  Spencer  Houghton  Cone 
performed  an  act  which  crowned,  with  her  own  eternal 
circlet,  a  life  spent  in  the  service  and  defence  of  truth  ! 

Everything  conspires  to  show  that  the  revision  of  the 
English  Scriptures,  and  the  "  removal  of  their  errors 
and  obscurities  " — that  the  enthronement  in  the  hearts 
of  Christians  throughout  England  and  America,  of  his 
principle  of  "  the  Scriptures  as  God  gave  them — the 
truth  of  God  for  the  world  " — is  fixed  so  that  it  can 
never  again  be  shaken. 

The'  result,  thus  far,  has  proved  that  Mr.  Cone  neither 
misunderstood  the  signs  of  the  times,  nor  entered  upon 
his  work  unadvisedly.  Not  only  has  the  American 
Bible  Union  grown  into  a  large  national  society,  em- 
bracing its  tens  of  thousands  of  life-members  and  sub- 
scribers for  life-membership,  and  raising,  in  one  year 
more  than  forty-five  thousand  dollars,  but  it  numbers 
amongst  its  warmest  friends  and  adherents  influential 


LIFE   OF    SPENCER    HOUGIITON   CONE.  413 

members  of  every  evangelical  body,  employs  distin- 
guished scholars  connected  with  ten  different  denomina- 
tions, and  exerts  an  influence  that  is  felt  throughout  the 
religious  public  of  England  and  America.  From  this 
influence  cognate  institutions  have  sprung  up  in  both 
countries  for  the  same  object,  the  revision  of  the  English 
Bible,  and  men  of  high  positions  in  the  British  parlia- 
ment, the  Church  of  England,  and  the  Free  Church  of 
Scotland,  are  prosecuting  the  most  vigorous  means  for 
engaging  both  Church  and  State  in  the  enterprise.  The 
principles  and  plans  of  the  Bible  Union  have  vindicated 
the  wisdom  of  its  founders,  and  have  resulted  in  giving 
to  the  world  portions  of  the  word  of  God,  so  ably  and 
faithfully  translated  as  to  warrant  the  belief  that  before 
long  the  English  speaking  nations  will  rejoice  in  the 
possession  of  the  best  version  the  language  has  ever 
boasted  of. 

The  following  eloquent  and  Christian  testimony  to 
Mr.  Cone's  services  in  the  cause  of  p  are  versions,  is  from 
the  lips  of  Elder  Isaac  Erret: 

"  From  no  field  of  toil  and  sacrifice  could  the  Chris- 
tian of  this  age  more  earnestly  desire  to  be  carried  to 
his  reward  than  from  this  of  endeavoring  to  give  the 
Word  of  the  Lord  plain  to  the  nations.  My  thoughts 
now  linger  around  the  tomb  of  a  venerable  and  beloved 
man  of  God,  who  laid  the  foundations  of  this  enterprise 
in  tears  and  prayers,  and  daily  wTatched  it  with  fondest 
care  and  anxiety,  and  fearlessly  faced  the  storm,  and 
breasted  the  Avaves  of  opposition.  I  can  conceive  of  no 
more  fitting  close  to  an  earnest,  laborious,  and  godly  life 
than  his.  With  what  joy  will  he  greet,  in  the  world  of 
light,  the  Wickliffes,  and  Tyndales,  and  Coverdales,  and 
Eogerses,  and  the  hosts  of  reformers  and  martyrs,  who 
lived  and  died  contending  for  the  word  of  God !  He 
has  gone  from  more  peaceful  scenes,  and  from  a  bloodless 


414  LIFE    OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

warfare  ;  yet,  perhaps  the  faith  which  rejects  the  smile 
of  worldly  approbation,  and  the  moral  courage  which 
breaks  the  dearest  bonds  of  fellowship  with  friends  and 
brethren,  for  the  truth's  sake,  are  scarcely  less  now  than 
then.  It  will  be  blessed  to  be  even  the  least  in  that 
throng  of  heroes,  who  nobly  battled  for  the  word  of 
God,  and  to  say  in  going  up  with  them  to  cast  one's 
crown  at  the  feet  of  Jesus :  '  I  have  not  refrained  my 
lips,  O  !  Lord,  thou  knowest.'  It  will  be  blessed  for  the 
feeblest  and  least  of  us  all,  if,  when  we  stand  before  that 
judgment  seat,  where  the  Word  of  God  will  decide  our 
eternal  fate,  it  shall  appear  that  in  heart,  and  in  life,  in 
word  and  in  deed,  we  have  loved  and  honored  that 
perfect  law." 

Let  who  will  carry  out  the  work,  whether  her  "  gra- 
cious majesty  "  of  England,  by  her  commission  to  the 
learned  doctors  of  her  realm,  or  republican  America,  by 
means  of  faithful  men,  not  the  less  learned  or  faithful 
because  they  lack  the  "image  and  superscription "  of 
royalty  upon  their  work  ;  let  who  will  do  it — his  name 
will  be  twinned  with  it,  and  the  millions  who  shall  here- 
after rejoice  in  the  triumph  of  truth  and  the  confusion 
of  error,  will  remember  his  name  with  reverence  and 
affection,  when  the  brilliance  of  the  orator,  and  the  love- 
liness of  the  man,  slull  be  a  misty  and  uncertain  tradi- 
tion. 


LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE.  415 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

HIS    CONDUCT    TO    YOUNG    PREACHERS — DIRECTIONS — ADVICE 
—  VD3WS    OF   CHRISTIAN    CHARACTER,    FAITH   AND   PRACTICE. 

His  heart  was  always  young.  It  was  one  of  the 
most  striking  things  about  him.  Neither  mind  nor  heart 
seemed  ever  to  feel  the  chilling  touch  of  age.  To  the 
last  moment  of  his  working  life,  a  youthful  vivacity  and 
eagerness  of  sentiment,  distinguished  word  and  action, 
and  both  were  the  true  reflex  of  the  inner  man.  The 
human  machine  wore  out  with  intense  physical  and 
mental  labor,  the  divine  essence  within  worked  as  bright 
and  bravely  as  ever,  until  the  servant  failed  the  master, 
until  the  main  spring  was  fretted  through,  and  every 
wheel  stopped  at  an  instant.  Young  in  soul,  he  loved 
the  young.  Their  eagerness  and  ardor  were  kindred 
with  his  own.  Children  loved  him  and  played  with 
him  as  if  he  had  been  one  of  themselves.  He  could  find 
a  minute  to  chat  and  romp  with  his  grandchildren  in 
his  busiest  hours,  or  have  them  play  about  him,  and  do 
his  work  all  the  better  for  their  noise  and  mischief. 

Especially,  however,  he  loved  the  young,  who,  ser- 
ving their  Creator  in  the  days  of  their  youth,  felt  called 
to  preach  the  Gospel.  Here  duty  hallowed  what  incli- 
nation prompted.  To  serve  them  was  to  serve  the  cause 
he  lived  for.  To  cultivate  their  inclination  for  a  holy 
sacrifice  of  all  that  in  them  was  to  that  cause,  and  labor 
to  make  it  "  full  of  growing,"  was  to  plant  trees  in  the 
Lord's  garden,  the  fruit  whereof,  like  the  tree  of  life, 
should  be  for  the  healing  of  the  nations.     He  believed 


416  LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

that  the  principles  of  Baptists  were  the  hope  of  the  world. 
The  young  preacher  who  stood  beside  him  ardent  in  lore 
and  faith,  and  eager  to  spread  those  principles,  was  to 
to  him  a  pledge  of  the  future.  In  the  fire  of  his  eye,  in 
the  echo  of  his  voice,  he  heard  God  promising  that 
he  would  never  leave  himself  without  a  witness  among 
men.  The  warworn  soldier,  as  his  arm  grew  weak  with 
smiting  in  the  battle,  hailed  exultingly  the  accession  of 
youthful  strength  and  vigor,  and  girded  up  his  loins  and 
forgot  his  weariness.  The  moment  they  struck  into  the 
press  beside  him,  and  bared  their  breasts  against  the 
common  foe,  they  were  brothers  of  his  heart,  and 
his  shield  was  ready  to  cover  them,  wounded,  his  sword 
busy  to  open  for  them,  victorious,  a  wider  pathway. 

One  whom  he  loved,  and  who  happily  for  himself  can 
speak  experimentally  of  these  things,  tells  of  this  better 
than  we  can.  We  will  not  call  the  kind  contribution 
of  John  Wesley  Sarles  a  favor.  He  does  not  think  it  so. 
He  lays  it  as  a  laurel  upon  the  grave  of  his  father  in 
the  Gospel,  and  his  tears  are  yet  warm  upon  its  leaves. 

"  I  send,"  he  says,  "  fourteen  letters  written  by  your 
father.  The  re-reading  of  these  letters  has  again  brought 
fresh  before  me,  more  of  his  generous  solicitude,  and 
prayerful  wise  counselling,  than  I  know  how  to  express. 
With  all  his  leading  characteristics  engraven  on  your 
heart,  and  mind,  I  have  thought  the  reading  of  these 
letters  alone  might  better  supply  that  which  you  seek 
than  any  expression  I  could  give. 

"  I  will  simply  add  an  unstudied  sketch  of  my  general 
impressions,  which  may  possibly  contain  some  thought 
or  incident  that  you  can  use.  When  I  remember  his 
unwearied  kindnes  to  me,  and  his  constant  care  for  me, 
it  pains  me  that  I  did  not  in  some  more  practical  way 
than  I  did,  seek  to  express  to  him  my  sense  of  indebted- 
ness. 


LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE.  417 

"  But  I  have  no  idea  that  he  saw  any  failure  in  my 
appreciation,  for  if  I  do  not  greatl}  mistake,  he  was 
accustomed  to  forget  most  of  the  kindness  he  showed  to 
anybody.  He  had  no  time,  and  not  the  slightest  dispo- 
sition to  make  a  record  of  such  parts  of  his  life. 

"  He  never  acted  as  if  he  regarded  me  as  his  debtor.  I 
think  he  really  had  no  idea  of  the  extent  of  my  indebt- 
edness to  him.  The  kindness  of  his  heart  made  him 
unconscious  of  the  pains  he  had  taken.  And  besides, 
from  long  habit,  he  quickly  dismissed  his  own  generous 
acts,  with  no  desire  to  see  them  again,  short  of  the 
judgment.  I  never  saw  in  another  as  happy  an  exem- 
plification of  what  I  suppose  to  be  included  in  the  ver- 
ses of  Matthew,  '  Then  shall  the  righteous  answer  him, 
saying,  Lord,  when  saw  we  Thee  an  hungered,  and  fed 
Thee  ?  or  thirsty  and  gave  Thee  drink  ?  When  saw  we 
Thee  a  stranger  and  took  Thee  in  ?  or  naked  and 
clothed  Thee.' 

"  He  took  a  very  lively  interest  in  young  ministers 
generally.  They  met  with  such  a  warm  welcome,  he 
was  so  unreserved  and  free,  that  they  loved  to  come  to 
him  for  counsel  and  sympathy.  None  whom  he  knew 
were  in  want  of  a  friend  in  their  need.  In  their  failure 
to  see  clearly  the  truth,  instead  of  upbraiding  them, 
he  admired  and  followed  the  example  of  Aquila  and 
Priscilla  in  the  case  of  Apollos  '  and  took  them  unto 
him,  and  expounded  unto  them  the  way  of  God  more 
perfectly.' 

"  While  he  freely  sympathized  with  them  in  their  tem- 
poral affairs,  his  kindness  was  specially  manifest  and  over- 
flowing for  them  as  fellow  ambassadors  for  Christ.  He 
loved  to  help  them  in  their  great  work,  stopped  not  to 
count  the  cost  to  himself,  regarded  it  as  his  business,  and 
all  of  it  done  for  and  at  the  expense  of  Christ. 

"I  said  fellow  ambassadors,  for  though  they  were 

18* 


418  LIFE   OF    SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

young,  he  drew  no  lines  between  himself  and  them, 
assumed  no  right  to  dictate,  claimed  no  superiority,  but 
having  presented  the  result  of  his  own  experience,  was 
sure  to  leave  them  unhampered,  and  free  to  dissent,  if 
they  could.  In  the  youngest  of  his  brethren  he  fully 
recognized  the  right  to  exercise  their  own  judgment, 
and  often  reminded  them  of  the  obligation  to  do  so,  after 
all  that  was  spread  before  them  by  their  seniors. 

"  If  he  could  promote  them  in  the  favor  of  the  people, 
and  extend  their  usefulness,  his  own  happiness  was  just 
as  much  enhanced.  He  was  so  completely  above  and 
beyond  those  little  jealousies  towards  brethren,  which 
have  painfully  characterized  some  good  men,  that,  in 
the  minds  of  those  who  knew  him  intimately,  his  very 
name  is  a  rebuke  to  it.  As  the  harbinger  of  our  Lord 
truly  rejoiced  in  the  growing  ascendency  of  Christ,  so, 
I  believe,  did  Spencer  H.  Cone,  in  every  place,  and  on 
every  occasion,  when  he  was  obscured  by  a  fuller  and 
happier  exhibition  of  Christ  crucified.  All  thoughts  of 
himself  were  forgotten  when  the  honor  of  his  Lord  was 
involved.  The  higher  Christ  was  exalted  by  young  or 
old,  the  more  his  heart  exulted,  irrespective  of  his  or 
another's  connection  with  it.  His  abiding  and  ardent 
desire  for  his  younger  brethren  in  the  ministry,  was 
that  they  might  greatly  excel  him  in  preaching  the 
unsearchable  riches  of  Christ.  It  was  pre-eminently 
this  kind  of  excellence  in  them  that  he  sought  and 
prayed  for.  He  appreciated  learning,  but  rarely  at- 
tempted to  excite  a  young  man's  ambition  in  that  direc- 
tion ;  for  the  simple  reason  that  he  usually  found  them 
awakened  to  the  value  of  intellectual  training,  while 
vastly  higher  qualifications  were  but  dimly  seen. 

"  Long  years  since  I  often  remarked  that  while  many 
other  ministers  with  whom  I  met,  talked  much  and 
largely  about  literary  studies,  and  taste  and  training, 


LIFE   OF   SPENCEK  HOUGHTON   CONE.  419 

style  of  composition  and  elocution— excellence  in  those 
particulars  upon  which  the  educated  world  sits  in  judg- 
ment— he  was  always  seeking  to  make  a  Scriptural 
preacher,  a  Gospel  preacher,  a  spiritually  minded 
preacher.  Accordingly,  I  well  remember  words  like 
the  following  from  his  lips  : 

"  '  Avoid  seeking  a  reputation  as  a  preacher.  It  costs 
dearly  to  support  a  reputation,  destroys  spirituality  of 
mind,  has  greatly  detracted  from  the  usefulness  of  some 
good  and  able  men. 

"'Beware  of  withholding,  for  some  great  occasion, 
thoughts  which  you  may  regard  as  specially  valuable. 
If  you  make  such  use  of  thoughts  given  by  the  Holy 
Spirit,  He  will  be  likely  to  withhold  from  you.  Give 
them  to  the  people  the  first  opportunity — wait  not  till 
another  occasion. 

" '  Guard  against  judging  of  the  state  of  your  heart,  by 
any  liberty  or  light  you  may  have  in  preaching.  You 
may  be  aided  in  that  way,  in  answer  to  the  prayers  of 
the  church  which  you  serve,  while  the  real  state  of  your 
heart  may  be  deplorable. 

"  '  Never  be  drawn  or  swerved  from  a  plain  duty  by 
inconvenience  and  trouble.  For  instance,  defer  not  a 
baptism,  because  it  is  stormy,  or  because  there  is  only 
one,  or  because  it  may  be  a  very  humble  and  obscure 
disciple. 

'"There  are  two  courses  before  you  as  a  preacher: 
make  yourself  familiar  with  classic  authors,  study 
the  popular  taste,  bring  forth  well-written  essays,  use 
the  Bible  as  a  fine  collection  of  texts,  and  fill  up  your 
sermons  from  other  sources ;  or — 

"'Give  yourself  chiefly  to  the  study  of  the  Bible, 
bring  forth  the  whole  counsel  of  God,  whether  men  will 
hear  or  forbear,  "  Present  the  Word." 

In  the  first  course  you  will  make  yourself  popular, 


.. . 


420  LIFE   OF    SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

in  the  other  you  will  be  useful  to  the  souls  of  men,  and 
please  God.     Take  your  choice. 

"  '  Accustom  yourself  to  give  Christ  His  place  in  every 
sermon.  Get  the  Gospel  by  the  handle.  Never  preach 
a  sermon  without  enough  of  the  Gospel  to  show  a  sinner 
how  he  must  be  saved.' 

"  The  above  were  not  presented  in  precisely  this  lan- 
guage, and  not  at  all  in  this  order,  nor  all  of  them  on 
any  one  occasion ;  but  in  a  very  informal  way,  he  was 
constantly  throwing  out  the  weightiest  suggestions 
whenever  I  had  an  hour  with  him. 

"I  am  aware  that  this  is  a  very  meagre  outline  on  the 
point  named. 

"  Turning  from  these  peculiarities,  allow  me  to  name 
another,  and  his  crowning  characteristic  as  a  Christian, 
which  I  have  not  seen  duly  noticed,  and  which,  I  think, 
ought  to  be  made  prominent  in  a  faithful  memoir  of 
him.  I  refer  to  the  strength — the  greatness  of  his  faith 
in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

"  I  believe  that  his  cordial  renunciation,  before  God,  of 
every  work  and  service  of  his  head  and  heart,  his  grate- 
ful exulting  reception  of  the  sinner's  friend — the  good 
faith  in  which  he  received  the  promise  of  life  in  Christ, 
and  accordingly  fled  from  himself  to  Christ  as  his  all, 
this,  I  believe,  was  the  crowning  triumph  of  grace  in 
his  heart  and  life.  Abraham-like,  '  he  staggered  not  at 
the  promise  of  God  through  unbelief,  but  was  strong  in 
faith,  giving  glory  to  God.' 

"  This  was  the  ground  of  his  power  with  God  and 
men,  and  of  his  wide-spread,  honored  usefulness." 

The  following  letter  to  Mr.  Sarles,  is  a  very  striking 
exhibition  of  his  way  of  thinking,  and  manner  of  coun- 
selling a  young  preacher.  He  is  writing  from  Schooley's 
Mountain,  New  Jersey,  and  says,  "  The  first  Sabbath  of 
the  month  (August)  I  supplied  a  large  Presbyterian 


LIFE   OF   SPENCEK   HOUGHTON    CONE.  421 

Church  in  Hackettstown.  I  have  preached  twice  in  the 
chapel  on  the  mountain.  My  texts  have  heen,  Jer. 
xxii.  29,  Mark.  viii.  36,  and  2  Cor.  v.  17,  from  which 
you  may  at  least  gather  the  character  of  the  subjects  to 
which  the  attention  of  my  hearers  was  directed. 

"  So  you  sat  up  till  near  midnight,  and  had  the  head- 
ache the  next  day,  as  a  very  natural  consequence. 
Well,  don't  do  so  again.  Experientia  docet.  Your 
mental  preparations  can  never  be  set  off  in  a  Boanerges' 
strain,  unless  you  give  the  body  fair  play. 

"  I  think  I  left  a  copy  of  the  '  Pulpit  Cyclopedia '  for 
you.  You  may  consult  it  to  advantage.  Not  only  the 
essays  on  the  art  of  preaching,  but  the  skeletons  of 
sermons.  Use  everybody — work  them  in,  if  they  have 
anything  that's  worth  it — but  coj)y  nobody. 

"  Look  over  Jay's  morning  and  evening  exercises — he 
has  great  tact  in  sermonizing — in  the  choice  of  texts,  and 
in  the  manner  of  handling  them. 

"  I  wish  you  to  get  into  the  habit  of  always  having  a 
subject  on  your  mind,  not  'half  matured,'  but  wholly 
matured  for  presentation.  Why,  a  Baptist  preacher 
ought  to  be  ready  to  preach  at  a  minute's  warning, 
if  necessary.  I  do  not  expect  him  to  be  inspired  on  such 
occasions,  although,  I  believe  the  Lord  always  helps 
those  who  boldly  and  cheerfully  stand  in  their  lot ;  nor 
do  I  wish  him  to  be  ready  to  say  anything  that  comes 
uppermost,  and  suppose  that  the  single  word  '  unpre- 
pared '  will  serve  as  the  mantle  of  charity  to  cover  over 
all  his  jargon.  !N"o,  this  is  the  motto  for  my  preacher, 
'  semper  paratus,'  and  that  the  motto  may  be  appropri- 
ate, let  him  remember  that  preaching  is  his  business — 
his  reasonable  and  delightful  service. 

"  In  the  morning  he  rises — reads — meditates — prays — 
a  passage  strikes  him — if  not,  let  him  read  until  he  find 
one  that  does — then  let  him  throw  it  into  the  shape  of  a 


422  LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

sermon  at  once.  Say  it  is  2  Cor.  v.  17.  '  Therefore  if 
any  man  be  in  Christ,  he  is  a  new  creature  ;  old  things 
are  passed  away ;  behold,  all  things  are  become  new.' 
Now  what  is  it  to  be  in  Christ  ?  1.  By  election — by 
conversion,  &c.  2.  Evidence  of  the  fact — new  creation 
— new  thoughts — principles — desires — hopes — fears,  &c. 
Of  God,  of  Christ,  of  soul,  &c.  3.  Privileges  and  bene- 
fits of  this  new  state — embracing  earth  and  Heaven. 

"  Let  this  or  a  similar  outline  from  any  text  be 
on  your  mind — think  how  you  could  speak  of  Christ,  or 
the  spirit,  or  Heaven,  or  the  worth  of  the  soul  from  it ; 
and  the  '  paratus  semper '  shall  stand  up,  if  duty  calls, 
and  say  something  to  the  purpose,  for  he  has  thought  on 
his  text,  and  satisfied  himself  of  its  import,  and  has 
several  proof  texts  impressed  upon  his  memory,  that 
can  be  at  once  made  available.  Then  he  can  use  his 
liberty,  and  dwell  on  the  1st,  2d,  or  3d  points,  as  they 
open  to  his  mind,  and  if  he  finds  that  he  has  talked 
long  enough,  he  can  wind  up  with  a  stroke  or  two,  just 
to  clench  the  nail  he  has  spent  the  hour  in  driving  ;  or 
if  he  has  ten  minutes  that  ought  to  he  occupied,  let  him 
remind  Christians  of  their  privileges — gratitude — devo- 
tion, &c,  or  sinners  that  if  the  soul  is  lost — all  is  lost  ! 
Never  forgetting  that  his  '  wind  up  '  must  not  be  forced 
or  far-fetched,  but  be  '  fitly  framed  '  to  the  text.  The 
Lord  bless  you,  and  make  you  more  useful,  and  more 
devoted  than  your  assured  friend  and  brother." 

Tew  men  of  good  mind,  and  honest  purpose,  could 
practise  on  the  system  recommended  in  a  letter  on 
the  same  subject,  without  attaining  excellence  in  extem- 
poraneous speaking.  It  is  true,  much  self-conceit  and 
pride,  must  be  first  had  away  from  the  heart;  and 
the  bad  habits  of  a  majority  of  students  and  speak- 
ers got  rid  of;  but  it  seems  to  us,  that  a  frank  and 
determinate  adoption  of  these  rules,  will,  perhaps,  go  as 


LITE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE.  423 

far  to  banish  all  such,  as  any  mere  mental  training 
can. 

"  I  hope,"  he  says  to  the  young  student  of  theology, 
who  at  his  request  often  supplied  his  pulpit  whilst 
he  rested  a  week  or  two  from  his  labors  during  the  heat 
of  the  summer — but  who  was  now  himself  resting 
a  little  from  his  studies  in  a  country  retreat,  "  I  hope 
you  will  have  sufficient  confidence  in  God,  and  in  the 
fullness  of  Christ,  and  in  the  promised  presence  and  aid 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  in  the  abundant  supplies  treas- 
ured up  in  the  Gospel,  to  preach  at  least  once  every 
Lord's  day.  Yon  may  sometimes  be  mortified  and  shut 
up,  as  others  have  been  before  you,  but  notwithstanding 
all  this,  preach  frequently .  Practise  only  makes  perfect. 
A  man  might  read  about  cutting  out  a  coat  until  he  was 
grey,  and  not  be  able  to  make  a  garment  that  would  fit 
a  lap-board  after  all.  You  must  practise.  Learn  a 
little,  and  preach  it ;  learn  a  little  more  and  preach  that, 
and  so  on,  till  you  have  the  bag  of  the  Gospel,  full 
of  milk,  to  resort  to,  and  your  hand  so  thoroughly  prac- 
tised in  the  art  of  milking,  that  you  can  pull  away 
at  the  teat  of  election,  and  if  the  milk  don't  run  freely, 
try  the  teat  of  adoption,  or  justification,  or  sanctification, 
or  conversion,  or  the  offices  of  Christ,  or  the  graces 
of  the  spirit,  or  the  duties  and  privileges  of  the 
Christian,  &c.  Only  take  care  always  to  feed  your 
hearers  upon  '  the  sincere  milk  of  the  word,  that 
they  may  grow  thereby.'  As  you  are  in  the  country, 
ascertain  how  the  girls  learn  to  milk.  I  think  they  try 
constantly  till  they  succeed.     Go  thou  and  do  likewise. 

"  I  am  sorry  you  are  fallen  into  such  Arminian  bor- 
ders, but  hope  it  will  do  you  good.  Resort  to  the  Bible 
for  arguments,  and  call  up  your  own  experience  on  the 
subject.  Salvation  is  either  of  grace  or  wor'ks.  Paul 
has  set  thai  matter  in  a  clear  light.     Your  views  of  the 


424  LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CCNE. 

atonement  are  correct.  You  can  sustain  them  by  plain 
passages  of  holy  writ;  by  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity; 
by  the  offices  of  Christ  —  shepherd,  husband,  priest, 
surety,  advocate,  &c.  Disputes  are  not  profitable ; 
avoid  them  when  you  can  with  propriety,  and  always 
speak  the  truth  in  love.  If  you  must  argue,  ask  the 
Arminian  to  solve  your  difficulties  about  total  depra- 
vity, and  the  passages  that  speak  of  salvation  by  grace, 
the  power  of  God,  &c,  and  he  will  find  that  it  is  easier 
to  ash  questions  sometimes,  than  to  answer  them. 

"  Head  Booth's  "  Reign  of  Grace  "  carefully  and  criti- 
cally. If  you  should  commit  it  to  memory,  it  would  do 
you  good  to  the  day  of  your  death.  It  would  furnish 
your  mind  with  an  outline  of  the  plan  of  redeeming 
mercy,  so  that  you  could  not  be  taken  by  surprise,  or 
find  yourself  incapable  at  any  time  of  defending  a  scrip- 
tural position.  But  more  especially,  study  the  Bible 
prayerfully ;  commit  to  memory  striking  passages,  that 
you  may  be  mighty  in  the  Scriptures,  and  then  your 
profiting  will  appear  unto  all  men. 

"  Set  out  with  the  determination  to  preach  extem- 
poraneously. And  to  do  this,  premeditate  not  on 
words,  but  tilings  /  not  to  fix  upon  a  mode  of  expression 
— this  will  only  hamper  you — but  to  fix  the  subject  on 
your  mind.  The  man  who  commits  a  sermon,  when 
he  preaches,  seems  to  be  performing  a  task — his  highest 
success  is  not  to  forget  what  he  had  previously,  in  the 
cold  study,  written ;  but  he  who  meditates  upon  a  sub- 
ject— say  '  the  love  of  God ' — and  has  enriched  his  mind 
by  looking  at  it  in  various  aspects,  as  the  spring  of  all 
his  blessings — the  gift  of  Christ — his  sufferings — the 
influences  of  the  Spirit — the  guilty  creatures  to  whom  it 
comes — the  misery  from  which  it  rescues — the  holiness 
and  happiness  to  which  it  elevates  them,  &c. ;  when 
such  a  man  comes  to  the  people,  he  has  to  throw  him- 


LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE.  425 

self  upon  God  and  pray  for  help — a  most  profitable 
exercise  !  Then  whilst  he  adheres  mainly  to  the  outline 
he  has  carefully  formed  of  his  subject,  he  is  not  afraid 
to  employ  passages,  or  historical  facts,  or  Bible  illustra- 
tions, as  they  come  into  his  mind,  in  the  warmth  of 
argument  or  exhortation,  as  he  feels  the  worth  of  souls, 
and  the  preciousness  of  Christ,  and  there  will  be  a  fresh- 
ness, an  attractiveness,  an  adaptation  in  such  efforts, 
not  to  be  found  in  written  essays.  And  when  success 
accompanies  the  effort,  there  is  a  consciousness  of  imme- 
diate aid  from  God,  and  an  evidence  that  he  has  called 
us  to  the  work  which  is  above  price.  At  least,  such  is 
my  experience,  and  such  the  abiding  sentiment  of  my 
soul.  You  must  learn  to  preach  extemporaneously.  It 
will  give  you  much  more  time  for  study,  and  render 
your  ministry  much  more  efficient." 

In  answer  to  a  young  brother,  who  has  asked  for  a 
course  of  study,  he  says  :  "  I  never  studied  an  hour  in  a 
theological  seminary — how  can  I  mark  out  a  course  of 
instruction  for  licentiates  ?  You  know  as  well  as  I — let 
common  sense  have  fair  play.  Preachers  need  to  know 
everything.  Let  them  begin  with  first  principles,  and 
go  on  to  perfection,  making  the  Bible  their  daily  com- 
panion, and  valuing  learning  of  any  and  every  kind, 
only  as  it  helps  to  understand  and  explain  the  Bible." 

In  another  letter  he  says :  "  You  ask  for  standard 
works — they  are  so  numerous  and  so  various  in  their 
excellence  that  I  scarcely  know  where  to  begin,  I  prefer 
Abram  Booth,  6  vols.,  8  vo.,  London,  to  any  other  mere 
human  writer.  Gill,  Hall,  Fuller,  Bunyan,  have  much 
that  is  good,  but  some  things  to  be  guarded  against. 
Maclain,  on  Hebrews,  and  Haldane,  on  Romans,  1  vol., 
8vo.  each,  are  studies.  I  prize  Haldane  above  the  rest 
as  a  commentator." 

Making,  of  course,  exceptions  in  favor  of  those  which 


426  LIFE   OP   SPENCEB   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

particular  occasions  required  to  be  reduced  to  writing, 
his  general  and  strong  preference  was  for  extemporane- 
ous preaching. 

He  was  in  the  habit  of  putting  the  argument  in  favor 
of  the  practice  very  strongly,  in  this  wise :  "  You  will  see," 
he  said,  "  a  lawyer  in  a  court  of  justice  trying  a  case. 
His  client's  interests  are  at  stake.  He  is  their  defender. 
Perhaps  it  is  money  interest ;  perhaps  the  deeper  inte- 
rest of  reputation ;  or,  dearest  of  all,  life  itself.  The 
judge  upon  the  bench — the  jury  in  the  box,  have  the 
fate  of  his  client  in  their  hands.  To  save  him,  their 
minds  are  to  be  impressed  by  argument;  their  hearts 
touched  by  eloquence  and  pathos.  To  what  a  task  does 
a  good  counsel  set  himself.  Every  power  of  the  body — 
every  quality  of  the  mind  is  taxed  and  strained  to  the 
utmost.  His  memory  contributes  its  stores  of  learning. 
His  rhetoric  adorns  what  is  dry,  smooths  what  is  rug- 
ged, and  makes  the  path  so  pleasant  that  his  hearers  are 
enticed  along  with  him  wherever  he  will  have  them  go. 
His  fancy  and  imagination  play  with  seductive  bril- 
liancy around  the  subject.  His  heart  contributes  all  its 
tenderest  emotions  to  heighten  and  fix  the  impression, 
and  stamp  his  words  with  the  mint-mark  of  nature  and 
truth.  Does  he  not  deserve  success  in  a  good  cause? 
But  behold,  man  is  arraigned  at  the  bar  of  heaven.  A 
God  too  just  to  look  upon  sin  with  the  least  allowance, 
is  the  awful  Judge.  The  doom  of  the  finally  impenitent 
is  a  hell  of  endless  torment,  where  hope  never  enters. 
The  prisoner,  careless  of  his  fate,  ignorant  of  his  danger, 
stands  there  in  hardened  folly.  The  preacher  who  is  to 
plead  with  sinners — who  is  to  stand  between  the  living 
and  the  dead — who  is  to  warn  a  soul  worth  more  than  all 
the  worlds,  to  flee  from  the  wrath  to  come ;  who  is  to 
point  him  to  Christ  as  the  only  Saviour  for  one  so  lost 
and  guilty  ;  the  only  Advocate  with  the  Father ;  who  is 


LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE.  427 

to  endeavor  to  strike  through  the  iron  casing  which  bars 
the  passage  to  his  heart,  and  arouse  hirn  to  the  immi- 
nent peril  in  which  he  stands ;  the  man  who  is  to  tell 
that  wonderful  —  that  soul-piercing  and  enrapturing 
story  of  the  Cross — reads  it  all  from  a  well-written 
manuscript!  Can  that  man's  soul  be  lifted  up  to  the 
mercy-seat  as  he  does  so  ?  Can  his  heart  be  bursting 
with  agony  and  love  for  precious  human  souls — his  eyes 
fountains  of  tears — his  whole  being  wrapt  and  engaged 
in  the  sublime  responsibility  of  his  office  ?  It  is  possible 
it  may,  but  can  sinners  see  it  in  his  eyes,  and  hear  it  in 
his  voice  ?  Can  he  forget  himself — his  mere  words — 
everything  but  the  infinite  sorrow  of  a  lost  soul — the 
infinite  love  of  a  dying,  risen,  interceding  Saviour?  and 
will  that  be  so  palpable  that  conviction  will  strike  the 
dullest  ?  I  cannot  think  it.  And  shall  a  lawyer,  for  the 
sake  of  the  things  of  this  world,  task  all  the  noblest 
attributes  of  man,  and,  but  to  save  for  some  unhappy 
wretch  an  hour,  a  month,  a  year  of  painful  breath,  dis- 
play unmatched  devotion,  energy,  fire,  passion,  every- 
thing;  and  he  who  pleads  for  souls,  whose  object  is  to 
snatch  men  from  the  precipice  below  which,  roll  the 
fiery  billows  of  eternal  woe — shall  he  do  less  ?  Dare  he 
do  less?" 

We  offer  no  apology  for  giving  so  many  of  his  letters 
to  Rev.  Mr.  Sarles  in  this  connection  ;  they  tell  their  own 
story  better  than  we  can.  They  possess  also  a  peculiar; 
ity,  best  shown  by  themselves.  It  was  the  only  writing 
he  indulged  in  after  he  began  to  preach.  Dashed  off  at 
railroad  speed,  anywhere,  under  any  circumstances,  the 
simple,  unstudied  pouring  out  of  his  heart  or  mind ; 
they  have  yet,  many  of  them,  the  compactness  and  force 
of  closely-reasoned,  and  carefully-prepared  essays.  The 
reason  of  this  is  very  plain ;  they  were  the  skeletons  of 
his  own  system  of  thought  and  action.     He  had  acted 


428  LIFE   OF   SPENCEK   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

all  he  wrote,  for  a  life-time.  Every  point  and  rule  had 
been  digested  and  considered  for  years — turned  and 
looked  at  in  every  possible  direction — and  when  shaped 
in  a  manner  to  satisfy  his  mind,  set  up  as  a  land-mark 
to  travel  by  in  the  journey  of  duty. 

Thus  as  he  was  always  thinking  of  the  best  way  to 
advance  the  cause  of  Christ  in  the  world,  as  he  thought 
of  nothing  else  in  fact  and  cast  about  him  every 
moment  of  the  day  to  find  the  best  means  to  do  it,  his 
conversation,  the  product  of  so  much  thought,  was  full 
of  weighty  suggestions.  Half  the  time  he  was  not 
aware  that  he  had  said  anything  strong  or  valuable.  It 
had  been  turned  over  in  his  own  mind  so  often  that  it 
seemed  like  something  which  must  be  apparent  to  every 
body  as  a  thing  of  course.  So  with  his  letters,  they 
flowed  out  of  a  full  heart  and  mind,  naturally  and  with- 
out effort.  Entirely  free  from  the  idea  of  producing  an 
effect,  and,  indeed,  simple  relations  of  processes  of 
thought,  through  which  he  had  gone  himself  in  the  elim- 
ination of  truth,  or  rapid  digests  of  his  system  of  Theol- 
ogy, benevolence,  principles,  they  possess  the  charm 
rather  of  a  great  and  good  man's  conversation,  than  his 
writings.  How  many  natural  traits  and  thoughts  are 
scattered  through  this  one.  "  With  reference  to  your 
request  to  address  the  Society  I  am  not  now  prepared  to 
reply.  I  cannot  make  any  positive  engagement;  all  I 
can  say  is,  the  cause  of  missions  is  dear  to  my  heart ;  to 
address  your  association  upon  the  soul  stirring  theme, 
would  be  to  me  most  gratifying,  and  if  circumstances 
permit  I  intend  to  be  present  at  your  next  anniversary. 
Further  than  this  I  cannot  go,  and  it  will  be  proper  for 
your  society  to  secure  the  services  of  some  competent 
brother  for  the  important  occasion  in  question,  and  if  I 
should  happen  to  be  at  Hamilton,  you  may  work  me  in 
anywhere. 


LIFE   OF   SPENCER    HOUGHTON   CONE.  429 

u  I  hope  you  will  not  dispose  of  yourself  positively  for 
the  month  of  August,  at  least  until  we  have  an  opportu- 
nity of  ascertaining  whether  you  ought  not  to  spend  that 
month  with  the  church  under  my  pastoral  care, 
(The  First  Baptist  Church  New  York.)  It  is  a  lovely 
church,  sound  in  the  faith,  united  and  happy,  and  I  bless 
God  for  the  usefulness  and  comfort  he  has  given  me 
among  them  from  the  beginning. 

"  I  have  looked  over  your  case  carefully  and  deliber- 
ately, and  without  repeating  details  and  particulars,  my 
judgment  decidedly  is,  that  you  are  not  called  to  occupy 
the  field  of  foreign  missions. 

"  Next  as  to  your  '  future  course.'  Were  I  in  your 
position,  if  I  understand  it  correctly,  I  should  enter  upon 
the  work  of  the  ministry  after  your  collegiate  course  is 
completed. 

"  Study  Theology  from  the  Bible,  your  own  heart,  the 
experience  of  your  people,  the  wants  of  the  community 
among  whom  you  labor.  Reading  makes  a  full 
preacher,  thinking  makes  a  wise  one,  and  speaking  a 
rt  ad \y  one.  The  man  who  reads  two  hours  and  thinks  six 
is  the  preacher  I  should  like  to  sit  under. 

"  If  you  were  to  be  a  missionary,  with  a  view  espe- 
cially to  the  translation  of  the  sacred  Scriptures,  you 
should  remain  where  you  are,  and  obtain  a  critical 
knowledge  of  Hebrew  and  Greek ;  but  as  a  pastor  of 
one  of  our  churches,  there  are  other  things  of  more 
importance,  and  you  can  learn  them  better  and  faster 
when  you  every  day  are  made  to  feel  what  you  need, 
than  if  you  were  to  study  for  years  with  an  indefinite 
idea  of  what  mental  furniture  you  might  probably  use 
to  the  best  advantage  in  future  possible  emergencies. 

"  You  may  be  a  missionary  in  spirit,  and  yet  remain 
in  the  United  States  ;  my  first  impulse  was  to  preach  the 
Gospel  to  the  heathen,  and  had  I  been  single,  I  should 


430  LIFE   OF   SPENCEK   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

have  gone  forth  immediately.  Having  wife  and  child  1 
could  not  go,  but  God  has  manifestly  made  my  thirty 
years'  ministry  a  greater  blessing  to  the  heathen  world 
than  if  my  bones  were  bleaching  on  the  plains  of  Asia, 
and  He  is  able  to  do  the  same,  yea,  and  much  more 
with  you,  and  so  may  He  do  for  Christ's  sake  !" 

In  a  letter  written  to  Mr.  Sarles,  in  May,  1846,  he  indi- 
cates his  idea  of  the  wide  distinction  between  "  revivals," 
got  up  by  extraordinary  means  of  excitement  and  pre- 
paration, and  the  gracious  outpouring  of  the  Spirit  "  like 
the  former  and  latter  rain."  His  tender  care  and  affec- 
tion for  the  wife  of  his  youth  and  of  his  old  age,  peep  out 
under  the  modesty  of  the  word  "  necessity  " — ah  !  it  was 
a  necessity  of  the  heart.  In  the  same  wholesome  way 
he  shows  too  the  distinction  between  trusting  "  Christ" 
and  trusting   "  self." 

"  I  shall  expect  you  to  supply  my  pulpit  in  August, 
at  least.  Mrs.  Cone  is  now  sick  abed  with  influenza, 
her  lungs  are  weak,  and  the  slightest  cold  oppresses 
them  ;  indeed,  she  has  never  had  one  entire  week  of 
good  health  since  last  September.  I  shall,  of  necessity, 
devote  a  considerable  part  of  the  ensuing  summer  to 
her  restoration  to  health — if  the  Lord  will ! 

"  I  do  not  wish  you  to  interrupt  your  studies,  but  let 
me  know  when  you  can  come,  and  how  long  you  can 
consistently  remain,  and  I  will  make  my  arrangements 
accordingly.  The  members  of  the  First  Church  love 
you  and  your  preaching  ;  they  will  receive  you  cordially 
and  listen  to  you  kindly,  so  that  there  needs  nothing 
more  to  be  said  upon  that  subject. 

"  I  hope  the  Lord  will  make  plain  paths  for  your  feet 
— you  need  not  be  in  a  hurry  where  to  fix  your  post. 
"Watch  and  pray,  and  the  Lord  will  provide  you  a  pulpit 
of  wood,  or  a  stand  under  the  spreading  oak,  where 
you  may  proclaim  the  unsearchable  riches  of  Christ. 


LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE.  431 

"  With  the  character  of  the  recent  revival  at  Hamil- 
ton I  was  happily  made  acquainted,  from  different 
sources,  and  it  rejoiced  my  heart.  It  was  evidently  'a 
work  of  Grace,'  and  that  is  all  we  need  to  break  the 
hardest  heart  and  turn  the  stone  to  flesh.  Salvation  by 
free  and  sovereign  grace,  is  not  only  written  upon  the 
sacred  page  with  a  sunbeam,  but  in  the  experience  of 
every  Christian,  if  he  will  only  tell  the  story  of  his  con- 
version in  the  language  of  the  Spirit,  and  not  in  the 
phraseology  of  mortals. 

"  Think  of  the  Saviour's  account  of  a  converted  soul, 
in  the  parable  of  the  shepherd,  who  goes  after  the  poor 
wandering  sheep— -finds  him,  hinds  him  to  his  shoulder 
— brings  him  home  to  his  fold,  &c.  How  simple,  plain, 
beautiful,  true ! 

"  Now  suppose  that  sheep  could  talk,  and  we  should 
hear  him  say  to  others  of  the  flock,  '  I  took  the  first  step 
— I  was  tired  of  wandering  on  the  mountains  of  error — 
I  determined  to  seek  the  shepherd — I  found  Him  and 
jumped  upon  His  shoulder — and  here  I  am  safe  and 
sound,  as  long  as  I  am  faithful  and  choose  to  stay 
here !' 

"  Oh  !  these  I,  I,  I,  how  they  hide  the  Saviour !  Let 
me  continue  to  sing — while  life,  and  strength,  and  being 
last,  or  immortality  endures. 

"  'Jesus  sought  me  when  a  stranger, 
Wandering  from  the  fold  of  God, 
He  to  rescue  me  from  danger, 
Interposed  his  precious  blood  !'  " 

The  following  short  extract  shows  how  careful  he 
was  not  to  attempt  to  influence  the  judgment  of  younger 
preachers :  "  As  to  future  study  I  cannot  direct  you ; 
you  must  judge  for  yourself.  You  must  decide  whether 
it  will  be  best  to  remain  at  Hamilton  one  two  or  three 


432  LIFE   OF   SPENCEK   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

years;  or  whether  you  ought  to  'go  a  fishing'  imme- 
diately, relying  upon  Him  who  sends  you  forth  to 
furnish  you  with  a  net,  and  after  perhaps  much  apparent 
fruitless  toil,  tell  you  how  to  put  it  down  at  length  on 
the  right  side  of  the  ship." 

The  following,  too,  indicates  the  just  appreciation  he 
had  of  learning  in  a  preacher,  and  how  he  put  it  in 
its  right  place :  "  The  importance  of  education  to 
a  preacher  is  admitted  on  all  hands,  and  true  learning 
always  promotes  humility  rather  than  pride,  and  I 
rejoice,  therefore,  that  you  are  solicitous  to  seek  out 
acceptable  words  with  which  to  clothe  your  thoughts. 
The  question  to  be  solved,  in  the  case  of  Brother  Taylor 
and  yourself,  is  simply  one  of  duty,  and  is  between  God 
and  your  own  souls.  You  have  taken  the  right  method 
to  ascertain  the  path  of  safety,  by  'making  known  your 
request  to  God,  by  prayer  and  supplication  with  thanks- 
giving,' and  as  you  think  the  'long  course '  will  please 
God,  and  as  your  mind  is  at  peace,  while  you  contem- 
plate it,  I  say  to  you  both,  go  on,  and  the  blessing  of  the 
Highest  overshadow  you.  The  only  difficulty  in  my 
mind  is  the  length  of  time  it  will  keep  you  from  preach- 
ing Christ  to  the  perishing  and  destitute  ;  but  if  by  this 
delay  you  are  made  '  workmen  that  need  not  to  be 
ashamed,'  the  cause  of  truth  will  be  the  gainer,  and  not 
the  loser  by  it.  I  therefore  say,  '  Go  on,'  under  the 
assurance  that  your  motives  are  pure,  and  that  your  aim 
is  to  be  useful  rather  than  great  and  learned — to  win 
souls  to  Christ,  rather  than  gather  classical  laurels  for 
yourselves." 

"  Whenever  and  wherever  you  preach,  preach  Christ. 
Never  leave  out  Christ  when  you  are  trying  to  make  in 
your  thoughts  the  skeleton  of  a  sermon.  Habituate 
yourself  to  give  Him  His  place  whatever  be  your  sub- 
ject— whom  we  preach,"  &c. 


LIFE   OF    SPENCEK   HOUGHTON   CONE.  433 

The  other  letters,  with  the  perusal  of  which  Tlev.  Mr. 
Sarles  has  obliged  us,  display  his  care  over  several  of 
the  young  students  at  Hamilton ;  his  solicitude  for  their 
temporal  and  spiritual  welfare ;  anxiety  to  be  useful  to 
them  in  procuring  books  and  comforts,  and  urgent 
desire  that  they  should  advance  the  reputation  of  the 
institution,  and  the  cause  of  Christ,  by  coming  out  from 
it,  not  only  learned,  but  scriptural  and  evangelical 
preachers  of  the  Gospel.  How  he  found  time  to  do  all 
this,  in  connection  with  his  public  duties,  seems  hardly 
possible  to  understand.  Keeping  the  threads  of  every 
public  enterprise  of  the  denomination  in  his  hand ; 
preaching  without  relaxation  ;  reading  much,  and  read- 
ing closely  too ;  studying  Biblical  criticism  intensely  ; 
recollecting  and  attending  to  all  the  wants  of  individual 
members  of  his  church  ;  visiting  the  sick,  and  at  the 
same  time  discharging  a  thousand  offices  of  friendship 
daily.  Such  was  his  life.  To  compass  it,  every  minute 
had  its  allotted  work,  and  system  co-operated  with 
genius.  • 

Dr.  Armitage's  account  of  his  first  interview  with 
Mr.  Cone  offers  a  pleasing  illustration  of  his  manner  to 
young  preachers,  he  says :  "  My  introduction  to  Dr. 
Cone  was  at  the  pastor's  conference  in  the  lecture-room 
of  the  First  Baptist  Church,  in  1848.  As  he  extended 
his  hand  to  me,  he  said  : 

"  '  Ah,  this  is  Brother  Armitage,  is  it  ?  I  have  heard 
much  of  you,  my  brother,  since  Dr.  "Welch  baptized 
you.  We  welcome  you  into  the  Baptist  denomination. 
But  I  hope  you  are  sound  in  the  faith  on  the  subject  of 
our  doctrines,  as  well  as  on  the  ordinances.'  I  replied, 
'  Yes,  sir,  I  presume  I  am,  at  least  I  have  been  pro- 
nounced so  by  Dr.  Welch,  Alfred  Bennett,  William 
Arthur,  and  the  largest  council  which  ever  met  in 
Albany,  after  a  full  and  lengthy  examination.' 

19 


434  LIFE   OF    SPENCER   HOUGHTON   COISTE. 

"  '  Oh  well,  then,'  said  Dr.  Cone,  'I  presume  it  is  all 
right.  Bartholomew  T.  Welch  ought  to  know.  He's  a 
safe  man  in  his  views  of  the  Gospel.  If  he  says  you  are 
right,  I  reckon  we  shall  have  to  let  you  pass.  May  God 
bless  you,  my  brother.'  " 

The  following  communication  from  one  of  his  early 
children  in  the  Gospel,  covering  several  important 
letters,  shows,  that  however  separated  by  lapse  of  time 
or  distance,  he  carried  them  all  in  his  thoughts,  and  was 
never  too  busy  to  attend  to  their  spiritual  welfare,  or 
labor  to  upbuild  them  in  the  faith ;  and  is  especially 
valuable  for  its  statement  of  some  of  his  views  of  divine 
truth. 

"  In  your  last  letter,"  she  says,  "  you  spoke  of  his 
death.  Yes !  he  is  gone,  but  the  remembrance  of  him 
is  to  me  very  precious.  Dearly  did  I  love  him.  [ 
prized  him,  and  felt  him  to  be  my  friend.  Though  I 
have  been  so  long  separated  from  him,  still  in  any  diffi- 
culty I  always  applied  to  him,  and  always  found  him  a 
willing  counsellor.  How  often  now  do  I  think  of  him, 
and  my  warm  attachment  in  days  gone  by.  How  well 
I  remember  the  farewell  sermon  he  preached,  and  the 
tears  I  shed  when  he  left  Alexandria ! 

"  At  a  time  when  my  mind  felt  dark,  and  I  needed 
Christian  counsel,  I  wrote  to  him,  and  he  answered  ;  '  I 
regret  that  any  consideration  should  have  prevented 
you  from  making  known  your  Christian  exercises  and 
difficulties,  for  it  could  not  be  a  question  with  you,  but 
that  the  present  and  everlasting  happiness  of  my  chil- 
dren in  the  Gospel,  must  ever  be  a  subject  near  to  my 
heart.  With  reference  to  Christian  character,  the 
Apostle  says,  that  those  who  measure  themselves  by 
themselves,  are  not  wise  ;  that  is,  those  who  make  the 
sorrows  and  joys,  the  convictions  and  ecstasies,  the 
apparent  humility  and  spiritual   mindedness  of  their 


Life  of  spencer  houghton  cone.  435 

professors,  the  rule  by  which  they  judge  of  their  own 
state,  do  not  act  consistently  ;  they  do  not  draw  conclu- 
sions upon-  safe  or  scriptural  principles.  Open  the  Bible. 
Who  is  a  Christian  according  to  God's  unerring  descrip- 
tion ?  If  any  man  be  in  Christ,  he  is  a  new  creature  ;  old 
things  have  passed  away  ;  behold !  all  things  have 
become  new.  This  is  a  Christian,  who  can  say  from 
experience,  whereas  once  I  was  blind,  now  I  see  !  See 
what  ?  The  holy  character  of  the  Divine  Being ;  the 
just  requirements  of  His  Law;  the  depravity  and 
sinfulness  of  the  human  heart ;  the  need  of  a  better 
righteousness  than  our  own  to  justify  us  in  the  sight  of 
God;  the  loveliness,  suitableness,  and  fullness  of  Christ 
as  our  Redeemer,  substitute,  and  surety  ;  the  hateful 
nature,  as  well  as  fatal  consequences  of  sin ;  the  beauty  of 
holiness,  and  the  utter  impossibility  of  ever  satisfying  the 
soul  with  earthly  things.  Now  if  these  are  our  views, 
we  can  go  on  a  little  further,  and  say,  we  love  God 
because  he  is  holy,  and  just,  and  good,  and  has  given 
His  only  begotten  Son  to  die  for  sinners ;  we  love 
Christ,  because  he  first  loved  us,  and  manifested  the 
infinite  loveliness  of  his  character  in  becoming  poor 
that  we  might  be  made  rich  ;  we  love  the  Holy  Sjnrit ; 
because  He  has  convinced  us  of  sin,  shown  us  the  abil- 
ity of  Christ  to  save  to  the  uttermost  all  that  come  unto 
God  by  him,  drawn  us  with  the  cords  of  love,  and  made 
us  to  pant  after  holiness,  as  the  hart  panteth  after  the 
water  brooks ;  we  love  the  children  of  God,  because 
they  bear  the  image  of  their  elder  brother,  because 
they  love  Jesus,  and  desire  to  glorify  Him  in  their 
bodies  and  spirits,  which  are  the  Lord's.  Hence  the 
never-failing  mark  of  true  discipleship  is  left  on  record 
for  the  comfort  of  the  saints  in  every  age,  and  under 
every  dispensation,  '  hereby  do  we  know  that  we  have 


436  LIFE   OF   SPENCER    HOUGHTON   CONE. 

passed  from  death  unto  life,  because  we  love  the  breth- 
ren.' 

"  '  Christians  should  earnestly  desire  the  best  gifts, 
they  should  never  be  satisfied  with  present  attainments; 
they  should  forget  the  things  that  are  behind,  and  press 
towards  the  mark  of  the  prize  of  their  high  calling. 
And  yet  Christians  often  write  bitter  things  against 
themselves,  by  confounding  Grace  itself  with  large 
attainments  through  Grace.  There  were  many  Old 
Testament  saints  who  arrived  safely  in  Heaven, 
although,  they  were  not  translated  like  Enoch,  or 
carried  thither  in  a  cloud  of  fire,  like  Elijah. 

"  'The  foot  is  not  an  eye,  and  the  hand  is  not  the 
tongue ;  shall  we  say,  therefore,  that  the  foot  does  not 
belong  to  the  body  ?  This  would  evidently  be  an 
absurd  conclusion.  Our  faces  do  not  shine  like  the  face 
of  Moses;  we  have  not  the  eloquence  of  Apollos,  the 
profundity  of  Paul,  the  zeal  of  Peter,  or  the  ardent  love 
of  John.  Oh,  for  grace  to  be  more  like  them.  But  do 
I  love  the  head  even,  Christ?  Am  I  attached  to  the 
members  of  His  mystical  body,  His  redeemed,  and 
chosen,  and  sanctified  ones?  Then  may  we  each  of  us 
say,  'my  soul  shall  rest  immovably  secure  upon  the 
promise  of  Him  who  is  not  a  mau  that  he  should  lie, 
nor  the  son  of  man  that  he  should  repent.  His  promise 
is,  '  where  I  am,  there  shall  my  people  be  also,  that 
they  may  behold  My  glory.'  " 

Sometime  after  the  above  was  received,  my  mind  was 
considerably  exercised  on  the  subject  of  close  commun- 
ion. The  following  extracts  from  his  letter,  in  reply  to 
mine  on  the  subject,  are  those  which  referred  to  the 
question. 

"  You  believe  that  Baptism  is  immersion  only,  and 
that  believers  are   the    only  proper    subjects    of   the 


LIFE   CF   SPENCEK   HOUGHTON   CONE.  437 

ordinance.  There  is  not  in  the  Bible,  either  precept  or 
example  for  infant  sprinkling. 

"  The  act  of  Baptism,  is  an  act  of  obedience  to  Zion's 
King;,  of  which  infants  are  incapable. 

"The  religion  of  Jesus  Christ  is  personal,  spiritual, 
and  voluntary  /  it  is,  therefore,  utterly  inconsistent  with 
infant  Baptism,  for  babes  have  no  faith,  no  volition  in 
the  act.  It  is  an  unmeaning,  unscriptural,  human  cere- 
mony. Now,  do  not  Baptists  stand  alone  in  this  matter, 
as  "witnesses  for  God?  Thousands  are  torn  Catholics, 
or  Presbyterians,  or  Quakers,  or  Churchmen  ;  but  no 
one  is  torn  a  Baptist.  We  must  first  be  brought  to  the 
knowledge  of  the  truth  ;  then  cry  '  Lord,  what  wilt 
Thou  have  us  to  do?'  The  answer  is,  'if  ye  love  Me, 
keep  my  commandments.  Arise  and  be  baptized.' 
We  obey,  and  it  is  well-pleasing  to  God  ;  for  to  obey  is 
better  than  sacrifice,  and  to  hearken,  than  the  fat 
of  rams. 

"  A  Gospel  church  is  a  voluntary  association  of  such, 
persons,  and  such  only,  as  have  been  baptized  upon 
profession  of  their  personal  faith  in  Jesus  Christ.  They 
are  organized  for  the  purpose  of  maintaining  the,  doc- 
trines and  ordinances  of  the  Lord  blameless. 

One  of  these  ordinances,  and  the  one  now  in  question, 
is  the  Lord's  Supper.  It  is  a  church  ordinance,  not  a 
ministerial  or  private  one  like  preaching  or  pra}Ter.  It 
can  only  be  scripturally  kept  or  administered  when 
"  the  church  is  together  in  one  place."  It  is  a  sign  of 
fellowship  with  the  church  and  with  Christ,  the  glorious 
Head,  in  obedience  to  whose  commands  in  the  ordi- 
nances of  Baptism  "  we  keep  the  feast,"  and  without 
whose  commands  to  do  so,  it  would  be  neither  a  privi- 
lege nor  a  dutv.  Now  the  order  Christ  has  established 
is  faith,  baptism,  breaking  of  bread.  Such  was  the 
order  of  primitive  churches;  but  Pedo-Baptists  have 


438  LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

changed  one  of  the  ordinances,  as  well  as  their  order. 
For  baptism,  they  put  sprinkling  ;  for  believing,  they 
put  infant.  Instead  of  making  faith  the  jjrerequisite  of 
baptism,  and.  saying,  "  if  thou  believest  with  all  thy 
heart,  thou  mayst,"  they  leave  faith  out  of  the  question, 
and  baptize,  or  sprinkle,  or  pour  those  who  are  incapa- 
ble of  its  exercise.  Have  you  communion,  agreement, 
fellowship  with  such  a  church.  ? 

"  You  say  you  have  dear  Christian  friends  in  other 
churches,  whose  piety  is  vastly  greater  than  your  own, 
and  with  these  individuals  you  have  fellowship. 

"  But  the  Lord's  supper  was  not  instituted  as  a  sign  of 
Christian  communion,  but  of  union  in  church  relation- 
ship. 

"  We  may  love  Quakers,  or  Catholics,  or  Methodists,  if 
satisfied  with  the  evidence  they  give  of  personal  piety; 
and  in  preaching,  singing,  prayer,  conversation,  &c, 
may  delight  to  manifest  our  Christian  fellowship  ;  but 
we  have  conscientiously  and  deliberately  embraced 
different  views  of  the  order  and  laws  of  God's  house ; 
we  have  not  church  fellowship  with  them,  and  cannot, 
therefore,  consistently  sit  down  to  the  Lord's  supper 
with  them,  which  is  the  sign  of  that  fellowship. 

"  Why  should  we  have  the  sign,  if  we  have  not  the 
thing  signified  ? 

"  You  say  they  would  commune  with  you,  why  should 
you  not  with  them? 

"The  cases  are  not  parallel.  They  believe  with  you 
that  baptism  is  the  indispensable  prerequisite  of  commu- 
nion ;  they  hold  to  close  communion  as  pertinacious^  as 
we  do.  They  hioto  that  immersion  is  baptism ;  they 
are  satisfied  that  you  are  baptized,  and  have  a  right  to 
the  Lord's  supper.  Of  course,  in  sitting  down  with  you, 
they  have  nothing  to  abandon — nothing  to  concede. 
But  you  have  to  abandon  believer's  baptism  as  the  only 


LIFE   OF    SPENCER   HOUGHTON    CONE.  439 

scriptural  baptism,  and  still  believing,  as  you  do,  that 
Christ  has  established  this  prerequisite,  are  you  ready 
to  say  baptism  is  of  no  importance,  or  infant  sprinkling 
will  do  as  well  ? 

"  Until  you  can  do  this,  you  cannot  consistently  sit  at 
the  table  with  those  whom  you  know  to  be  unbaptized." 

A  year  after  my  marriage,  when  I  was  in  deep  afflic- 
tion both  mentally  and  physically,  I  wrote  to  him  again, 
and  again  he  endeavored  to  come  to  my  relief,  by  a 
speedy  and  feeling  answer,  thus  :  "  You  say,  '  I  am  un- 
happy because  I  have  not  peace  with  God.'  If  I  were 
entirely  unacquainted  with  you,  and  were  to  judge  of 
your  state  simply  by  your  own  expressions,  I  should 
certainly  conclude  that  you  were  a  child  of  God,  though 
'  cast  down,  yet  not  to  be  destroyed.'  '  The  necessity 
of  prayer;  a  new  heart — a  heart  of  flesh;  godly  sorrow 
for  sin  ;  removal  of  the  load  of  guilt  from  the  wounded 
conscience  ;  personal  interest  in  the  atonement  of  Christ ; 
His  love  shed  abroad  in  the  heart ;  the  light  of  God's 
countenance ;  ardent  desire  to  go  up  to  the  house  of 
God ;  to  be  useful  to  others.'  These  are  your  expres- 
sions and  feelings.  These  things  are  learned  only  in  the 
school  of  Christ.  He  alone  can  show  us  the  exceeding 
sinfulness  of  sin — make  us  hate  it,  and  groan  under  its 
burden  until  we  are  delivered  from  the  bondage  of  cor- 
ruption— and  teach  us  that  His  precious  blood  alone  can 
cleanse  us  from  all  sin.  You  are  like  Job — '  Oh  !  that  1 
knew  where  I  might  find  him  !'  or  like  David,  '  Restore 
to  my  soul  the  joys  of  thy  salvation,  and  uphold  me 
with  thy  free  spirit ;"  or  like  Paul,  '  Oh  !  wretched  man 
that  I  am,  who  shall  deliver  me  from  the  body  of  this 
death  V  Now  why,  my  friend,  rather  not  say  with  Job, 
'  I  know  that  my  Redeemer  liveth ;'  and  with  David, 
'  The  Lord  is  my  shepherd — surely  I  shall  dwell  in  the 
house  of  the  Lord  for  ever ;'  and  with  Paul,  '  Who  shall 


440  LIFE   OF    SPENCEIt    HOUGHTON   CONE. 

separate  me  from  the  love  of  Christ?  I  am  persuaded 
lie  is  able  to  keep  all  I  have  committed  unto  Him 
against  that  day.'  If  your  knowledge  of  sin,  and  ardent 
desire  to  be  useful,  and  holy,  and  happy,  in  the  society 
of  Christ  and  his  people,  are  the  same  marks  of  Chris- 
tian character  that  distinguished  Job,  and  David,  and 
Paul,  then,  doubtless,  your  end  shall  be  like  theirs. 
Your  unhappiness  may  be  ascribed  to  a  diseased  body, 
and  not  to  the  work  of  grace  in  the  heart. 

"  But  you  seemed  disposed  to  look  at  your  case,  as 
of  one  who  had  learned  these  Scriptural  forms  of  expres- 
sion from  associating  with  Christians,  and  from  hearing 
the  Gospel  faithfully  preached.  You  ascribe  your  pro- 
fession of  religion  to  '  natural  feeling,  which  operated  on 
you  in  witnessing  the  change  in  others,  &c.'  I  question 
whether  '  natural  feeling,'  sympathy  with  others,  could 
give  you  the  knowledge  or  abhorrence  of  sin,  or  the 
panting  after  Christ  and  holiness  which  you  express,  but 
even  granting  the  bitter  things  you  write  against  your- 
self to  be  true,  and  that  '  you  now  know  you  have  only 
a  name  to  live,'  why,  it  is  an  unspeakable  mercy 
that  you  now  know  your  need  of  a  Saviour,  and  that 
repentance  which  needeth  not  to  be  repented  of,  and 
of  a  heart  of  flesh,  and  of  a  well  grounded  hope.  Mil- 
lions even  where  the  Gospel  is  preached,  know  nothing 
of  these  things — they  are  foolishness  to  them ;  of  course, 
they  feel  no  need  of  them,  and  never  pray  for  them. 
In  one  word,  then,  I  say,  look  to  Jesus  for  wisdom, 
righteousness,  sanctification,  and  redemption.  "We  can 
only  be  complete  in  him.  You  have  been  looking  too 
much  to  yourself,  to  frames,  and  feelings,  and  walk,  for 
comfort,  and  God  is  showing  you  that  you  must  look  to 
Christ.  Look  to  Him  wholly  and  alone.  The  more 
you  see  in  Him,  the  more  you  will  resemble  Him,  for 
the  beloved  John  teaches  us  that  we  shall  be  perfectly 


LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE.  441 

"  like  Him  when  we  shall  see  Him  as  He  is."  1  com- 
mend you  to  God  and  to  the  word  of  His  grace.  Read 
and  judge  for  yourself.  Hold  fast  of  whatever  Christ 
teaches  you.  Be  decided.  Trust  Him,  and  He 
will  never  leave  you  nor  forsake  you.  He  is  a  greater 
Saviour  than  you  are  a  sinner,  and  you  dishonor  Him 
every  moment  you  stay  away  from  Him  ;  His  hlood  gives 
the  peace  of  conscience  which  passethall  understanding. 
You  are  dear  to  me  as  one  of  my  children  in  the  Gospel, 
which  I  have  ever  regarded  you.  For  your  happiness  I 
do  fervently  pray.  May  the  Lord  keep  you  in  the 
truth." 

These  extracts  from  letters  must  necessarily  be  of  a 
desultory  character,  covering  as  they  do,  so  wide  a  field 
of  thought  on  pastoral  duties,  and  church  discipline  and 
doctrine.  In  a  letter  to  a  member  of  the  First  Church 
then  residing  abroad,  referring  to  some  trouble  in  the 
church,  Mr.  Cone  says,  "  I  have  been  thirty-five  years  a 
pastor,  and  never  took  sides  in  a  case  of  discipline  yet, 
so  you  see  we  agree  in  one  thing  at  least.  I  hold  up  the 
rule  of  God's  word,  for  doctrine  and  church  order,  and 
Christian  deportment,  and  as  far  as  possible  endeavor  to 
make  the  disciples  walk  thereby ;  but  neutrality  does 
not  always  satisfy  either  a  delinquent  or  his  friends  *  -  * 
There  are  few  additions  to  the  church,  the  fisherman's 
hands  are  tied.  Hard  catching  fish  in  the  waters  of 
strife.  Lord  revive  us !  all  our  help  must  come  from 
Thee." 

Writing  to  Eev.  T.  T.  Devan,  May  10th,  1848,  in  ans- 
wer to  suggestions  of  his  correspondent,  he  says,  "  You 
are  right  in  jyreaching  at  once  as  well  as  you  can. 
Pride  might  suggest,  wait  till  you  are  able  to  speak 
properly  and  fluently,  and  then  why  not  wait  till  you 
are  a  walking  theological  seminary  ?  No  !  your  decision 
is    correct,   to-day  lift  up   your    voice   like    a  trum- 

19* 


442  LIFE   OF   SPENCEK   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

pet ;  we  know  not  what  shall  be  on  the  morrow.  *  *  * 
Baptism  is  undoubtedly  a  ministerial  ordinance,  and  if 
you  meet  a  man  going  to  Ethiopia  or  Patagonia,  with 
whose  Christian  experience  you  are  satisfied,  and  he  asks 
to  be  baptized  that  he  may  go  on  his  way  rejoicing,  I 
would  advise  you  to  comply  with  his  request.  He  may 
like  the  Eunuch,  have  an  opportunity  of  preaching  the 
Gospel  to  the  destitute,  and  baptizing  converts  where 
churches  do  not  exist.  But  when  you  ask  whether  '  you 
ought  to  immerse,  knowing  that  the  subjects  will  retain 
their  connection  with  mixed  or  Pedo-Baptist  churches  V 
I  say  no !  All  things  must  be  done  decently  and  in 
order.  Converts  are  baptized  and  the  same  day  added 
to  an  existing  Gospel  church,  or  with  a  view  of  becom- 
ing constituent  members  of  such  a  church.  If  they  do 
not  sufficiently  understand  the  New  Testament  to  see 
that  Gospel  churches  are  composed  of  baptized  believers, 
then  they  are  not  sufficiently  enlightened  to  be  baptized  ; 
and  if  they  are  not  willing  to  be  baptized  into  the  fel- 
lowship of  a  Baptist  church,  however  weak  and  small, 
then  they  have  not  humility  enough  to  put  on  Christ  by 
baptism,  and  follow  him  through  evil  as  well  as  good 
report.  You  could  not  baptize  according  to  your 
hypothetical  case  without  practically  teaching  and 
preaching  open  communion,  and  this  you  certainly 
were  not  sent  to  do  by  the  church  that  licensed  you  and 
ordained  you  '  earnestly  to  contend  for  the  faith  once 
delivered  to  the  saints.'  I  send  you  a  little  work  by 
Rev.  E.  Turney,  on  the  law  of  Baptism ;  it  will  repay  a 
careful  perusal."  In  another  letter  to  the  same  person, 
he  says,  "  The  first  Gospel  church,  was  the  church  in 
Jerusalem,  of  which  James  was  a  pillar.  The  18th  of 
Matthew  on  offences  and  the  institution  of  the  Lord's 
Supper,  anticipated  the  formation  of  a  Gospel  church  out 
of  those  persons  baptized  by  John  the  Baptist,  or  the 


LIFE    OF   SPENCER    HOUGH'iON    CONE.  443 

Apostles,  as  well  as  all  succeeding  Gospel  churches  iu 
which  the  doctrines,  ordinances,  and  discipline,  estab- 
by  Zion's  King,  were  to  be  observed  to  the  end  of  time. 
The  question  of  '  strict  communion  '  is  no  more  affected 
by  the  fact  that  our  Lord  administered  the  supper  to  his 
disciples  before  the  organization  of  a  Gospel  church, 
than  their  '  ordination '  to  the  work  of  the  ministry 
could  be  called  in  question,  because,  '  a  church  did  not 
license  them  to  preach  and  administer  ordinances."  In 
another  letter  to  the  same  he  says,  "  Preach  the  truth, 
print  and  circulate  the  truth,  and  live  the  truth  to  the 
utmost.  'Proselyte'  quotha?  By  all  means.  What 
did  you  go  to  France  for  ?  Let  not  your  mind  faint  nor 
grow  weary  in  the  good  work.  Make  as  many  Baptists 
as  the  Lord  shall  graciously  '  make  willing  in  the  clay 
of  his  power.'  Infant  sprinkling  is  '  part  and  pillar  of 
popery.'  Insomuch  as  you  drive  it  away  or  bring  it 
into  disrepute,  as  being  a  mere  human  dogma,  without 
scriptural  authority,  you  undermine  popery,  and  lead 
the  public  mind  to  examine  the  Bible.  Proselyte 
wisely,  deliberately,  determinately,  prayerfully,  scriptu- 
rally." 

"We  have  given  a  general  idea  of  his  manner  of  pre- 
paration for  preaching.  His  earlier  habits,  in  Virginia, 
were  the  foundation,  however,  upon  which  all  else  was 
built.  "Whilst  there,  and  for  several  years  after  his 
removal  to  New  York,  he  was  a  very  hard  student  of 
theology  :  a  closer  student  perhaps,  in  Alexandria,  than 
at  any  other  time,  as  he  enjoyed  there  a  more  ample 
leisure.  The  society  which  surrounded  him  in  that  place 
contributed  greatly  to  his  progress  in  knowledge  of 
divine  things.  With  time  Virginian,  or,  better,  with  a 
Christian  hospitality,  his  house  was  always  open,  and 
several  young  Baptist  preachers,  as  well  as  students 
from  Columbian  college,  Washington,  made  it  their  home 


4:4:4  LIFE   OF   SPENCEK   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

when  in  the  city.  The  hours  passed  there,  by  these 
gentlemen,  were  profitable  to  all.  They  were  generally 
spent  in  discussing  whatever  points  of  theology  their 
late  studies  had  particularly  fastened  on  their  minds. 
Books  were  consulted  ;  commentators  collated  and  com- 
pared ;  above  all,  the  Scripture  searched,  that  ".to 
the  law  and  to  the  testimony"  all  things  might  be 
brought.  Thus  they  mutually  established  and  built  up 
each  other  in  the  doctrines  and  ordinances  of  the  Lord. 
Of  the  members  of  that  little  society  almost  all  after- 
wards became  eminent  and  successful  Baptist  preachers, 
and  without  exception,  that  we  know  of,  held  fast  unto 
the  end  to  the  same  form  of  sound  words.  The  cardinal 
doctrines  of  his  system  of  theology  had  been  impressed 
upon  his  mind  from  the  time  he  heard  McGloughlin 
preach,  he  being  then  little  more  than  eight  years  old ; 
but  during  those  years  of  delightful  intercourse  with 
his  young  brethren  in  the  ministry,  he  accumulated 
an  invaluable  store  of  learning  to  sustain  and  fix  them. 
He  never  varied  in  doctrinal  belief  or  preaching  from 
the  commencement  to  the  close  of  his  ministry. 
During  almost  his  entire  career  as  a  pastor,  he  was 
eminently  a  worker.  Constantly  preaching ;  fulfilling  a 
round  of  pastoral  duties  ;  and  actively  engaged  in  every 
benevolent  enterprise,  it  was  not  possible  for  him  to  de- 
vote much  time  to  the  studies  of  the  closet.  It  would, 
however,  be  a  mistake  to  suppose  that  he  was  ever  any- 
thing but  a  hard  student.  He  was  always  studying ; 
and  what  he  learned  once  he  never  forgot.  He  was 
always  revolving  in  his  mind  some  doctrine,  or  passage 
of  scripture,  or  peculiarity  of  Christian  experience,  or 
great  principle.  Pass  his  study  door,  at  any  hour,  and 
you  would  hear  him  talking  over  one  or  the  other  with 
himself.  Hardly  anything  that  passed  about  him,  in 
the  world,  escaped  him ;  changes  in  government,  politi- 


LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE.  445 

cal  events  in  various  countries,  incidents  and  facts 
observed  during  his  pastoral  visits,  remarkable  dis- 
coveries in  science — were  all  seized  by  bim,  and  trans- 
muted by  a  happy  mental  alchemy,  into  apt  and  striking 
illustrations  of  some  view  of  divine  truth.  It  is  impos- 
sible to  tell  exactly  when  or  where  men  of  this  quality 
of  mind  study.  Their  whole  life  is,  in  fact,  an  uninter- 
rupted study.  They  are  studying  you  whilst  they  talk 
with  you  about  the  commonest  things.  They  are  full 
of  a  great  principle  of  creation,  magnetic — and  attract- 
ing to  itself  momentarily  all  the  atoms  which  it  needs 
to  make  its  masterpieces.  The  world,  life,  all  that  any 
sense  can  reach,  are  hourly  teachers  of  their  thoughts, 
and  fill  them  with  the  wisdom  of  which  books  may  be 
made,  but  which  they  cannot  teach.  He  has  often  told 
us  that  he  had  never  passed  an  idle  hour  from  the  time 
he  was  fourteen  years  old. 

It  is  not  possible  to  present  more  than  a  very  brief 
notice  of  Mr.  Cone's  connection  with  several  benevolent 
enterprises,  of  which  no  particular  mention  has  yet 
been  made.  He  was  one  of  the  first  patrons  of  the 
University  of  the  city  of  New  York.  He  attended  most 
of  the  sittings  of  the  convention  that  settled  the 
principles  on  which  it  should  be  founded.  After  its 
incorporation,  he  secured  considerable  subscriptions 
from  Baptists  for  its  benefit,  and  acted  from  the  begin- 
ning to  within  a  very  few  years  of  his  death  with  the 
friends  of  the  Institution.  As  a  member  of  the  council, 
he  devoted  a  large  portion  of  time  to  many  long  and 
arduous  sessions,  during  a  period  when  the  prospects  of 
the  University  were  so  gloomy  as  to  discourage  its 
most  sanguine  supporters. 

For  many  years,  too,  he  served  the  Colonization 
Society  of  New  York,  as  a  member  of  its  Board ; 
regularly   attending  the  business  meetings,   and  was 


446  LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

usually  relied  on  as  one  of  the  popular  speakers  at  the 
anniversaries. 

For  The  Christian  Alliance,  an  association  formed  in 
New  York  for  the  diffusion  of  knowledge  amongst  the 
downtrodden  nations  of  Italy  and  central  Europe,  he 
exhibited  a  strong  interest,  and  gave  to  it  much  of  his 
time  and  thoughts.  In  fact,  in  nearly  every  effort  for 
the  amelioration  of  the  condition  of  his  fellow  men, 
which  took  form  in  the  place  where  he  dwelt,  he  bore 
so  active  a  part  that  few  who  knew  him  but  believed 
that  in  this  world  he  was  one  of  the  Workers. 

In  the  American  Baptist  Publication  Society,  from 
its  first  organization  in  Washington,  under  the  name  of 
the  Baptist  General  Tract  Society,  to  the  close  of  his  life, 
he  took  a  lively  interest. 

And  from  the  official  acknowledgments  of  money 
received  from  him,  which  we  have  found  amongst  his 
papers,  he  must  have  been  the  channel  through  which 
many  contributions  flowed  into  the  treasury  of  that 
society. 

It  is,  indeed,  a  fact  worthy  of  being  noted,  that  the  last 
moneys  contributed  to  the  cause  of  benevolence,  through 
him,  were  for  this  society.  They  were  placed  in  his 
hands  by  a  member  of  the  First  Church  after  the  con- 
clusion of  the  services  at  the  last  prayer  meeting  he 
ever  attended.  Before  the  money  reached  the  treasury 
of  the  society,  the  tongue  that  had  spoken  so  long  and 
bo  eloquently  in  its  behalf,  was  silent  for  ever. 


LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE.  447 


CHAPTER    XXIII. 

THE   LAST   TEAK. 

The  measures  adopted  and  enforced  by  the  deputation 
of  the  American  Baptist  Missionary  Union,  during  their 
visit  to  some  of  their  Asiatic  stations,  produced  great 
dissatisfaction  in  the  minds  of  several  missionaries. 
Statements  were  made  by  the  latter,  strongly  conflicting 
with  the  report  of  the  deputation,  and  an  appeal  taken 
from  their  decisions,  to  the  churches  at  home. 

A  special  meeting  of  the  Board  of  the  Union  was 
convened,  in  March,  1855,  in  the  city  of  New  York,  to 
adjust,  if  possible,  the  subject  matters  in  dispute.  In 
Mr.  Cone's  judgment,  this  meeting  was  inexpedient, 
because,  called  to  act  upon  questions  so  gravely  inport- 
ant  in  themselves,  and  so  widely  affecting  the  cause  of 
missions,  it  was  clearly  necessary,  that  everything 
should  be  in  evidence  before  the  body  assuming  to 
render  a  decision.  But  at  that  period  the  evidence  was 
defective.  The  statements  of  some  individuals  were  in 
their  possession ;  the  statements  of  others,  viz. :  letters  from 
various  missionaries,  still  in  transitu  between  Asia  and 
the  United  States.  Justice  to  all,  seemed  to  him, 
therefore,  to  demand  that  the  investigation  should  be 
deferred  until  the  entire  testimony  was  in  a  state  to  be 
submitted .  to  the  Board.  The  wisdom  of  his  long 
experience  was  not,  however,  deferred  to,  and  the 
meeting  was  insisted  upon. 

At  the  opening  of  the  session,  the  Executive 
Committee  submitted    their    statement  and  views  in 


448  LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

detail,  and  solicited,  by  their  counsel,  an  immediate 
decission  of  the  points  contested.  Mr.  Cone  foresaw 
that  such  a  course  would  not  only  foster  the  unpleasant 
feeling  already  existing  between  brethren,  but  tend 
directly  to  engender  new  discussions,  and  spread  the  evil 
far  beyond,  its  original  limits.  He  felt,  above  all,  with 
painful  solicitude  and  regret,  that  it  would  afford  a 
public  occasion  of  rejoicing  to  the  enemies  of  divine 
truth,  who  would  find  in  the  mutual  differences  of 
Christians,  the  opportunity  for  a  dangerous  triumph. 
He,  therefore,  warmly  urged,  that  the  whole  matter 
be  referred  to  a  committee  sufficiently  large  to  ensure  a 
settlement  of  the  dispute,  in  a  manner  satisfactory  to 
every  interest.  This  wise  and  temperate  proposition 
was  treated  with  cold  indifference.  Foiled  in  his 
attempt  to  prevent  the  feelings  and  disputes  of  his 
brethren  being  offered  as  food  for  public  scandal,  he 
still  persisted  in  urging  measures  of  conciliation.  To 
that  end,  he  moved  the  reference  of  the  whole  subject 
to  the  general  meeting  of  the  society,  to  be  held  at 
Chicago,  the  following  May.  By  such  a  course,  he 
submitted,  an  opportunity  would  be  afforded  to  the 
aggrieved  brethren  to  be  heard  in  their  defence,  and 
justify  themselves  before  that  body,  whose  agents  they 
were.  Thus  he  said ;  "  I  am  convinced,  that  the 
committee  ought  to  be  sustained  ;  but  I  think  we  ought 
to  seek  further  light,  in  justice  to  the  brethren,  and  wait 
for  the  regular  meeting  of  the  Board.  I  do  not  see,  that 
such  delay  would  be  ruinous  to  the  Union.  We  are 
assuming  very  much  the  character  of  an  ex  parte 
council,  a  thing  which  I  abhor,  and  abominate,  as 
Anti-BaptistP 

The  report  of  the  meeting  in  New  York  is  on  record  ; 
it  is  not  necessary  to  our  purpose,  that  we  should 
go  into  its  history,  further  than  to  show  Mr.    Cone's 


LIFE    OF    SPENCER    HOUGHTON    CONE.  449 

course,  and  its  consistency  with  his  whole  life.  His  de- 
sire, and  ambition,  was  to  prevent  injury  to  the  cause  of 
missions.  Internal  dissension,  always  more  dangerous 
than  external  difficulty,  or  attack,  threatened  to  impair 
its  prosperity,  and  check  its  progress.  Earnestly,  and 
prayerfully,  therefore,  he  tasked  his  mind,  and  drew 
upon  the  resources  of  a  long  experience,  for  a  remedy 
which  should  carry  with  it  oblivion  of  the  past,  and 
immunity  for  the  future.  The  result  has  proved,  even 
to  the  majority  of  those  who  were  then  unconvinced  of 
its  wisdom,  that  the  course  proposed  by  him  would  have 
been  best. 

After  experiencing,  at  that  meeting,  in  New  York, 
the  contemptuous  indifference  to  his  counsels,  so  unwisely 
manifested  by  his  juniors,  we  remember,  he  came  home, 
and  quoted  in  sadness,  and  with  a  kind  of  tender  piety 
for  them,  the  remark  made  there  by  a  brother  whom  he 
loved.  It  was  an  expression  of  feeling,  prompted  as  well 
by  personal  attachment  to  the  "  disregarded  veteran, 
Cone,"  as  by  an  appreciation  of  the  propriety  of  the 
course  he  had  suggested  : 

"  I  had  thought,"  said  he,  "  that  there  was  some  ray 
of  light,  when  my  beloved  brother  of  the  church 
in  Broome  street,  read  his  resolutions.  I  apprehend  we 
have  fallen  upon  times  in  which  grey  hairs  are  not  as 
much  respected,  as  in  my  childhood.  I  have  almost 
begun  to  wish  I  might  not  live  to  old  age." — (Rev. 
Baron  Stow.) 

The  actions  of  men  were  not  such  things,  however, 
as  could  alienate  Mr.  Cone  from  duty  to  God,  his 
people,  or  the  world.  "As  long  as  I  live,  I  mean 
to  sustain  the  cause,"  was  his  answer  to  all  there,  as 
ever  before.  Nor,  although  disappointed  in  the  con- 
duct of  many,  did  his  interest  flag,  or  his  labors  suffer 
diminution. 


450  LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

In  the  interim  between  the  special  meeting  of  the 
Board,  and  the  meeting  of  the  society  at  Chicago,  in 
May,  he  received  the  letters  of  the  aggrieved  mission- 
aries, containing  their  statement  of  the  facts  connected 
with  the  doings  of  the  deputation.  These  he  immediately 
pat  to  press,  and  caused  to  be  circulated  among  those 
interested  in  the  matter.  His  object  was  to  enable 
every  one  to  examine  both  sides  of  the  subject  in  agita- 
tion, not  doubting  that  such  a  course  would  lead  to  an 
impartial  and  happy  issue.     Nor  was  he  disappointed. 

The  special  meeting  of  the  Board,  at  the  Tabernacle 
meeting-house,  after  a  protracted  session,  failed  to 
arrive  at  any  conclusion,  or  to  decide  upon  a  course  of 
action  which  would  tend  to  overcome  the  difficulties 
which  had  arisen,  or  allay  the  excitement  created  by 
them.  The  matter  was  therefore  adjourned  over  to  the 
May  meeting  of  the  Board  and  Society  at  Chicago. 

When  the  letters  from  the  missionaries  reached  the 
United.  States,  Mr.  Cone,  as  we  have  said,  published 
them.  During  the  time  which  elapsed  between  the 
special  meeting  and  that  at  Chicago,  the  excitement 
constantly  spread  and  increased.  The  feeling  upon  the 
subject  was  particularly  strong  in  those  churches 
throughout  the  country  with  which  individual  mission- 
aries had  been  connected,  prior  to  their  entering  the 
service  of  the  "  Union,"  and  the  commencement  of  their 
labors  in  the  Eastern  world. 

This  excitement  had  become,  indeed,  so  general,  and 
had  increased  so  much,  that  when,  at  last,  the  society 
came  together  at  Chicago,  its  best  and  staunchest  friends 
and  supporters  took  their  seats,  oppressed  with  the 
gloomiest  forebodings.  Everything  appeared  dark  and 
threatening,  and  no  man  knew  where  it  would  end. 

The  Board  met  on  the  15th  May,  1855.  Many  fruit- 
less hours  were  spent  in  the  discussion  of  the  question, 


LITE   OF    SPENCER   HOUGHTC1T   CONE.  451 

but  no  nearer  approach  was  made  to  a  solution  of  the 
difficulty.  On  the  17th  the  Missionary  Union  itself 
met,  Ex-Governor  Briggs,  of  Massachusetts,  its  President, 
in  the  chair. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Jenks,  a  returned  missionary,  offered 
the  following  resolutions : — Resolved,  that  the  mission- 
aries of  this  Union  are  its  agents,  subject  to  its  constitu- 
tional control.  Resolved,  that  this  control  has  frequent- 
ly been  exercised  with  too  little  regard  to  the  rights  and 
feelings  of  the  missionaries  themselves."  These  resolu- 
tions were  lost. 

Mr.  Cone  then  proposed  his  resolutions,  which  were 
supported  by  Dr.  Stow.  They  were  referred  to  a  large 
committee,  and  finally  passed,  as  reported  by  the  com- 
mittee in  the  following  words  : 

"  Inasmuch  as  grave  differences  of  opinion  exist  be- 
tween certain  of  our  missionaries  and  the  executive 
officers  of  the  Board,  as  to  their  respective  rights  and 
duties,  and  the  best  means  of  conducting  our  missionary 
operations ;  and  inasmuch  as  these  difficulties  have 
seriously  affected  the  confidence  of  some  of  our  patrons, 
and  curtailed  our  pecuniary  resources ;  and,  inasmuch 
as  the  work  of  evangelizing  the  heathen  cannot  be 
abandoned,  and  must  not  be  interrupted  ;  your  commit- 
tee present  the  following  as  the  basis  of  action  in  the 
premises : 

"  We  deem  the  relation  between  the  Board  and  its 
missionaries,  and  the  rules  set  forth  in  the  documents 
submitted  to  the  Union,  and  by  the  Union  to  this  com- 
mittee, at  this  anniversary,  by  which  they  are  mutually 
to  be  governed  in  these  relations,  to  be  explicit  and 
sound,  and  such  as,  if  rightly  adhered  to,  will  secure 
harmony  and  peace  in  carrying  forward  the  work  to 
which  they  are  especially  devoted. 

It  is,  we  think,  clear  that  the  authority  of  the  Board 


452  LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

is  absolute  over  all  the  interests  of  the  missions  submit- 
ted to  their  care.  But,  at  the  same  time,  their  autho- 
rity is  limited,  and  as  used  in  the  prosecution  of  their 
work,  and  in  connection  with  their  missionaries  and 
agents,  must  be  exercised  under  the  rules  by  which  the 
parties  are  to  be  governed.  To  what  extent  these  rules 
have  been  disregarded,  either  by  the  executive  or  the 
missionaries,  it  is  not  the  province  of  your  committee  to 
determine.  We  deem  it  advisable  to  recommend  to  the 
Union  the  adoption  of  the  following  resolutions: 

"Resolved,  That  the  Union  recommend  that  a  committee  of  one 
from  each  State  in  the  home-field  he  appointed  hy  the  Board  of 
Managers,  to  whom  all  these  differences  and  difficulties  shall  be 
referred ;  and  that  it  be  the  duty  of  this  committee  to  give  a  patient 
and  attentive  hearing  to  all  that  shall  be  offered  by  all  the  parties 
interested,  and  to  make  all  suitable  investigation  touching  the  mat- 
ters involved,  and  report  to  the  Board  of  Managers  at  the  next 
annual  meeting,  or  sooner,  if  deemed  by  them  expedient,  provided 
that  in  any  and  all  matters  of  difference  now  existing  between  mis- 
sionaries and  the  Executive  Committee,  the  Executive  Committee 
act  with  the  advice  of  the  committee  now  appointed. 

2.  Resolved,  That  this  Union,  in  confiding  as  heretofore  to  the 
Board  of  Managers,  its  Executive  Committee,  officers  and  mission- 
aries, the  work  of  the  body,  with  every  assurance  of  united  sympa- 
thy, support,  and  co-operation,  will  take  immediate  measures  for 
the  full  payment  of  the  existing  debt,  and  for  the  enlargement 
of  our  missionary  operations,  as  the  providence  of  God  may 
direct." 

1.  Resolved,  That  the  measure  be  set  forth  to  the  churches  at  home 
and  the.  missionaries  abroad,  as  the  nearest  approach  to  a  perfect 
conciliation  which  at  present  can  be  attained,  and  as  a  basis  for  the 
persevering  and  liberal  co-operation  of  the  friends  of  missions. 

Thus,  his  original  suggestion,  rejected  by  the  special 
meeting  of  the  Board,  was  adopted,  and  became  the 
rule  of  action  of  the  parent  body  ;  the  excitement  was 
calmed ;    brethren    reconciled ;     difficulties    smoothed 


LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HCiUGHTON   CONE.  453 

away,  and  the  great  cause  of  missions  apparently 
rescued  from  danger. 

To  fully  understand  the  position  he  occupied  there, 
and  to  justify  the  warm  encomiums  upon  his  conduct, 
uttered  by  so  many  of  his  brethren,  it  is  necessary  to 
glance  at  circumstances  which  had  lately  occurred  in 
connection  with  the  Home  Mission  Society. 

He  had  been  the  subject,  for  some  time,  of  much 
harsh  and  unchristian  treatment.  Just  before  leaving 
New  York  to  attend  the  meetings  in  Chicago  he  had 
been  compelled  by  the  circumstances  in  which  that 
treatment  and  the  attitude  it  assumed,  placed  him,  to 
resign  the  office  of  chairman  of  the  executive  board 
the  American  Home  Mission  of  Society,  a  position 
he  had  occupied  with  very  little  interruption  from 
the  time  of  the  organization  of  the  society.  In 
his  letter  of  resignation  he  entered  without  reserve 
into  the  reasons  which  governed  his  decision.  He 
stated  that  the  board  of  the  Home  Mission  Society 
had  become  tenants  of  the  American  and  Foreign  Bible 
Society  in  their  marble  building  in  Nassau  street  con- 
trary to  the  instructions  of  the  society  issued  at  its 
annual  meeting  at  Troy,  and  directing  the  Board  to 
secure  an  independent  location  ;  contrary  to  numerous 
petitions  and  remonstrances  from  old  and  fast  friends  of 
the  society,  all  which  had  been  treated  with  contempt ; 
that  the  purpose,  if  persisted  in,  would  drive  away,  and 
alienate  wholly,  many  valuable  friends  of  the  society ; 
that  every  proposition  for  an  independent  location  had 
been  rejected,  a  majority  of  the  Board  having  proclaimed 
their  resolve  to  go  to  the  building  in  Nassau  street, 
whatever  the  obstacle  ;  that  it  was  his  conviction  the 
business  of  the  society  could  not  be  harmoniously  and 
successfully  carried  on  in   that  place ;  the  appointment 


454  LIFE   OF   SIENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

of  their  annual  meeting  for  the  same  day  of  the  year,  as 
that  of  the  American  Bible  Union,  and  at  another 
extremity  of  the  country,  was  the  first  instance,  in  the 
history  of  the  benevolent  institutions  of  the  denomina- 
tion, of  an  intentional  collision ;  and  for  all  these  reasons, 
and  many  more,  any  further  hesitation  on  his  part 
must  be  regarded  as  indifference  to  principle,  or  neglect 
of  the  proceedings  of  the  Board,  therefore  he  was  con 
strained  to  resign. 

In  support  of  these  his  views,  a  meeting  of  upwards 
of  fifty  pastors  of  Baptist  churches  in  Boston  and  its  vicin- 
ity signed  a  remonstrance,  and  forwarded  it  to  the  Board, 
recommending  the  selection  of  an  independent  location. 

A  sad  event  is  connected  with  his  history  as  chairman 
of  the  Home  Mission  Board.  It  was  in  that  character, 
and  during  the  last  year  of  his  life,  after  so  long  and 
varied  a  career,  after  sixty  years'  intercourse  with  all 
manner  and  conditions  of  men,  that  for  the  first  ana 
only  time,  he  received  a  direct  personal  insult.  The 
author  of  the  insult  to  the  old  man,  to  him  to  whom  grey- 
haired  preachers  of  the  Gospel  loved  to  look  up  as  a 
father  in  the  faith  and  services  of  their  common  Lord, 
was  a  young  member  of  the  Board.  If  he  be  a  true 
Christian  he  may  pray  for  his  master's  forgiveness  ;  his 
own  he  can  scarcely  hope  to  obtain. 

For  the  following  able  sketch  of  Mr.  Cone's  general 
course  in  the  meetings  at  Chicago,  and  the  skeleton  of 
the  speech  delivered  by  him  on  the  floor  of  the  "  Union," 
a  speech  which  decided  the  question  at  issue  in  the 
minds  of  a  controlling  majority  of  its  members,  we  are 
indebted  to  the  Hon.  George  E".  Briggs,  formerly  gov- 
ernor of  Massachusetts,  president  of  the  Union. 

"  I  am  very  sorry"  he  says,  "  that  I  am  not  able  to  do 
more  than  to  give  a  very  partial  account  of  the  words 


LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOIGHTON   CONE.  455 

and  acts  of  your  venerated  father  at  the  meeting  of  the 
Baptist  Missionary  Union  at  Chicago  in  May  last. 

"  I  did  not  arrive  at  Chicago  until  late  in  the  evening 
of  the  second  day  of  the  anniversary,  and  I  think  I  saw 
your  father  but  twice  whilst  I  was  there. 

"  In  the  morning  of  the  third  day,  at  a  meeting  of  the 
Board  before  the  hour  for  the  meeting  of  the  Union  had 
arrived  I  heard  him  make  a  few  remarks  on  some  sub- 
ject that  was  before  the  Board.  His  apparent  feebleness 
surprised  and  struck  me  sadly.  After  that  I  do  not 
remember  that  I  observed  him  again  until  the  last  day 
of  the  session. 

"  He  obtained  the  floor,  and  proceeded  in  a  course  of 
remarks,  which  commanded  the  attention,  and  excited  a 
deep  interest  in  the  audience.  In  very  appropriate  and 
touching  terms,  he  alluded  to  the  early  days  of  the 
existence  of  the  convention,  before  the  missionary 
operations  of  the  Baptists  took  the  form  and  name  of 
the  Union. 

"In  a  very  feeling  manner  he  spoke  of  those  brethren 
in  the  ministry,  who  were  dear  to  his  memory,  and  with 
whom  he  so  long  and  so  cordially  labored  in  the  mis- 
sionary cause.  He  said,  and  in  a  voice  stifled  with 
emotion,  that  he  had  been  anxiously  looking  round  for 
those,  who  with  him  in  other  days  constituted  what  was 
called  the  old  guard.  But  they  were  all  gone.  He 
only  was  left,  and  he  felt  that  his  work  was  almost  done. 
He  then  spoke  of  the  difficulties  which  at  that  time 
were  unhappily  disturbing  the  counsels  of  the  Union, 
and  disuniting  the  attention  of  the  friends  of  missions 
from  the  great  and  noble  object  which  they  all  had  so 
much  at  heart.  He  expressed  a  strong  desire  and  wish 
that  before  he  should  take  his  departure  from  them  and 
follow  those  tried  friends  who  had  gone  before  him  into 
another  world,  ho  might  say  or  do  something  which 


456  LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

would  tend  to  heal  existing  divisions,  and  restore  har- 
mony and  concord  among  them.  He  said  the  state  of 
things  had  heen  to  him  a  subject  of  much  anxiety  am< 
pain,  and  he  had  put  into  form,  propositions  which 
he  wished  to  submit  to  the  consideration  of  the  Union, 
and  which  in  his  judgment  were  the  best  calculated  of 
anything  which  had  occurred  to  his  mind,  to  produce 
such  a  result  as  he  was  sure  all  persons  were  most  anx- 
ious to  see  produced. 

"  He  submitted  his  propositions,  which  appear  upon  the 
journals  of  the  Union,  and  after  a  few  additional  remarks, 
said  he  should  leave  then  to  be  disposed  of  by  others. 

"  His  short  address,  with  the  tone  and  spirit  with 
which  it  was  uttered,  evidently  made  a  deep  impression 
upon  the  assembly  who  listened  to  it.  Several  members 
suggested  some  formal  amendments  to  the  paper  submit- 
ted, and  he  was  asked  if  he  would  consent  to  some  verbal 
modifications  which  had  been  proposed.  He  replied, 
that  he  made  no  objection  to  any  verbal  alterations 
which  did  not  affect  the  substance  of  his  propositions ; 
and  remarked  farther,  that  he  had  submitted  what  he 
believed  best  calculated  to  bring  to  an  amicable  termi- 
nation, the  unfortunate  difficulties  which  existed,  and 
had  said  what  he  felt  his  duty  to  say,  and  then  the 
whole  matter  was  in  the  hands  of  his  brethren  of  the 
Union,  to  do  with  it  what  they  thought  best. 

"  After  various  propositions  from  different  persons, 
and  some  discussion,  the  whole  subject  was  referred  to 
a  committee,  of  which  he  was  a  member.  That  com- 
mittee reported  to  the  Union,  resolutions  which  em- 
braced substantially  the  original  propositions  of  Dr. 
Cone,  with  some  things  in  addition,  and  their  report  was 
adopted  by  the  Union. 

"The  whole  of  that  disturbing  and  threatening  sub- 
ject is  now  in  the  hands  of  a  large  committee,  appointed 


LIFE   OF   SPENCEE   nOTJGHTON   CONE.  457 

by  the  order  of  the  Union  ;  -what  will  be  the  result,  the 
friends  of  missions  and  of  humanity  are  waiting  to  learn. 

"I  am  quite  sure,  if  all  of  us  members  of  the  Ameri- 
can Baptist  Missionary  Union,  and  its  missions,  upon 
whom  rests  the  responsibility  of  settling  the  disagreeable 
differences  which  were  the  subject  of  the  proposition 
of  our  departed,  friend  and  brother,  could  be  actuated 
by  that  spirit  which  actuated  him  on  that  occasion, 
those  differences  would  not  long  remain  as  obstructions 
in  our  path  of  duty,  and  in  our  course  of  usefulness. 

"  I  do  not  profess,  in  the  very  imperfect  account  of 
what  I  have  related,  to  have  given  the  precise  words 
used  by  Dr.  Cone.  But  I  believe  I  have  correctly 
stated  the  substance  of  what  he  said,  and  did,  and  used 
much  of  the  language  that  he  used. 

"  It  was  the  lovely  Christian  spirit  which  he  mani- 
fested, in  what  I  thought  he  sorrowfully  felt  to  be 
his  last  acts  and  his  last  words  to  the  assembled  breth- 
ren of  a  great  Christian  association,  in  whose  cause 
he  had  exerted  the  vigor  of  his  manhood,  and  the  best 
energies  of  his  life,  which  I  own,  deeply  moved  and 
affected  my  heart.  His  pale  face,  his  emaciated  and 
feeble  frame,  the  unnatural  brilliancy  of  his  fine  eye, 
and  the  softened  tones  of  his  clear  voice,  were  to  me  so 
many  melancholy  witnesses  that  we  were  looking  upon 
him,  and  listening  to  him  for  the  last  time.  I  know  that 
others  concurred  with  me  in  these  gloomy  forebodings. 
Death  had  set  his  seal  upon  him,  and  the  news  that  so 
soon  followed,  that  death  had  smitten  down  his  victim, 
was  not  surprising. 

"Whilst  his  propositions  were  under  discussion  I  beck- 
oned him  to  the  chair  which  I  was  occupying ;  I  told 
him  I  wished  most  heartily,  to  thank  him  for  offering 
what  I  regarded  as  the  olive  branch  on  the  subject  of  the 
difficulties  which  were  hurting  the  Union,  and  for  the 

20 


458  LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

Christian  spirit,  and  kind  "words  with  which  he  had 
presented  it,  and  that  I  loped,  his  plan  wonld  be 
adopted,  and  that  under  Providence  it  might  lead  to  a 
happy  termination  of  all  our  difficulties.  He  said,  those 
were  the  views,  and  that  was  the  hope  which  had 
induced  him  to  move  in  the  matter,  and  he  trusted 
Heaven  would  bless  the  effort.  As  he  bowed  and 
turned  away,  I  looked  upon  him  for  the  last  time. 

"  It  is  fit  that  others  should  speak  of  what  earth  has 
lost,  and  Heaven  gained  by  the  departure  of  this  good 
man  from  amongst  us." 

The  "  feebleness  "  alluded  to  by  Governor  Briggs, 
arose  from  an  attack  of  illness  which  followed  his  journey 
to  Chicago.  For  two  days  preceding  that  meeting,  he  had 
suffered  terribly  ;  spasms  of  pain  in  the  chest  and  pit  of 
the  stomach,  almost  beyond  endurance,  had  shaken  his 
entire  system.  The  mind  compelled  the  body,  however, 
to  obey,  and  he  went  from  a  sick  room  to  stand  in  the 
breach  between  bis  brethren.  His  son  supported  him 
to  the  place  of  meeting,  and  when  he  rose  to  speak,  his 
weakness  was  such,  that  he  expected  every  moment  to 
see  him  sink  down.  Those  who  listened  to  him,  did  not 
know  at  what  an  expense  of  life  he  was  playing  the 
mediator  of  conflicting  interests. 

Hundreds  of  his  brethren,  who  knew  what  he  had 
gone  through,  expressed  their  admiration  of  the  Christ- 
ian and  the  man  ;  but  none  have  uttered  the  warm 
feelings  of  the  heart,  or  expressed  a  noble  sympathy  in 
more  eloquent  language,  than  the  Rev.  George  W. 
Eaton,  of  Madison  University,  in  the  address  delivered 
by  him  before  the  American  Bible  Union,  at  its  anni- 
versary, in  1856. 

"  I  am  constrained,"  he  said,  '•'  to  pause  here  by  the 
rising  image  of  a  venerable  form,  whose  image  enshrin- 
ed in  our  '  heart  of  hearts,'  is  now,  alas,  all  that  is  left 


LITE    OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE.  459 

us  of  that  form,  to  make  a  personal  application  of  these 
remarks  I  can  do  it  now  without  offence,  for  he  is  far 
beyond  the  praises  or  censures  of  his  brethren.  They 
are  alike  indifferent  to  him  who  has  heard  his  praises 
from  the  lips  of  his  Divine  Master,  whom  he  served  so 
faithfully  through  good  and  through  evil  report,  in  the 
conflicts  of  His  militant  kingdom,  and  been  crowned  by 
Him  in  the  presence  of  His  holy  angels,  and  Redeemed 
in  glory.  I  need  not  name  him.  "Whose  thoughts  are 
not  even  now  full  of  him  ?  Whose  heart  is  not  heavy, 
with  the  swelling  emotion  of  sorrow,  as  he  seeks  in 
vain,  in  his  wonted  place,  for  that  beloved  form  whose 
very  presence  in  our  meetings  was  a  strength  and  a 
joy ;  and  the  thought  rises  that  he  shall  '  see  his  face  no 
more  ;'  no  more  hear  that  familiar  voice  which  ever 
rung  like  a  clarion-peal  in  defence  and  advocacy  of  the 
highest  and  holiest  truth,  in  enforcement  of  unswerving 
fidelity  to  that  truth,  and  in  cheer  and  encouragement 
to  its  faithful  friends,  and  whose  very  name  and  advo- 
cacy were  a  guarantee  of  success  to  every  enterprise 
and  principle  to  which  he  gave  his  heart  and  soul.  Of 
all  those  to  whose  character  and  services  I  have  been 
attempting  to  render  a  feeble  tribute,  he  was  by  the 
spontaneous  consent  of  all — ' facile  princepsj  ' facile 
princeps.'' — Beyond  dispute  the  chief — beyond  dispute 
the  Chief.  O,  may  hi3  mantle  have  fallen  as  he  passed 
upward  in  the  chariot  of  God,  upon  some  surviving 
Elisha,  in  the  cause  he  loved  so  well,  and  whose  certain 
and  glorious  triumph  he  saw  in  the  vista  of  the  future, 
ere  he  went  up  to  receive  his  crown. 

"  I  would  also,  have  the  friends  of  the  American 
Bible  Union  instructed  and  admonished  by  the  example 
of  their  late  illustrious  and  now  sainted  president,  who,  in 
the  meetings  at  Chicago,  soon  after  he  had  been  tho 
selected  mark  of  a  very  extraordinary  personal  attack, 


460  LIFE    OF    SPENCER    HOUGHTON   CONE. 

manifested  most  beautifully  and  impressively  the  meek- 
ness and  peace-loving  spirit  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ — ■ 
who,  forgiving  and  forgetting  his  own  personal  wrongs, 
stood  forth  before  Israel  as  the  peace-maker  among 
divided  brethren,  and  with  all  the  power  and  fervor 
and  peculiar  eloquence  of  his  best  days,  plead  the  cause 
of  Christian  charity  and  benevolence,  and  of  a  perishing 
world.  How  felicitous  was  that  last  opportunity  in  his 
long  and  eventful  life,  in  kind  Providence  given,  to 
vindicate  before  his  assembled  brethren  ami  the  Christ- 
ian world,  his  undiminished  claim  to  their  confidence, 
honor,  and  love.  Who  that  witnessed,  can  forget  the 
appearance  and  the  voice  of  the  venerable  man,  as  lie 
stood  in  the  midst  of  the  assembled  representatives  of  a 
great  people,  his  form  slightly  stooped,  and  his  bushy 
locks  whitened  by  age  and  hard  service,  uttering,  in 
silvery  tones,  gracious  words  of  wisdom,  of  love,  and  of 
fraternal  charity,  and  waving  in  his  uplifted  hand  the 
olive-branch  of  peace,  which  he  had  wrought  out  of  the 
resources  of  his  sanctified  sagacity  and  rich  experience 
as  the  initiative  to  the  adjustment  of  a  most  sore  and 
calamitous  strife,  which  had  appalled  and  perplexed  the 
wisest  and  best  in  Zion.  That  scene  was  prophetic. 
Without  his  or  our  knowing  it,  he  was  even  then  fanned 
by  gales  from  the  Heavenly  City,  through  whose  pearly 
gates  he  was  so  soon  to  pass,  and  their  odors  were 
diffused  around  him.  May  God  have  mercy  on  the 
man  wlic  can  cherish  ought  but  honor,  love,  and  grati- 
tude for  the  character  and  services  of  Spencer,  H. 
Cone." 


LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON    CONE.  461 


CHAPTER  XXIY. 

LOVE    STRONGER   THAN  DEATH. 

New  York  never  agreed  with  Mrs.  Cone's  health. 
The  winters  of  a  northern  climate  were  too  severe  for  a 
constitution  naturally  delicate,  and  lungs  easily  affected 
by  atmospheric  changes.  In  winter  she  was  usually  a 
close  prisoner  at  home,  and  never  perfectly  well  whilst 
the  cold  weather  lasted.  Several  times  during  her 
residence  in  New  York  she  was  so  severely  attacked  by 
inflammation  of  the  lungs,  as  to  render  her  removal  to 
a  milder  climate  necessary,  so  soon  as  the  disease  was 
sufficiently  arrested  to  allow  the  fatigue  of  travelling. 
Iu  summer  time  Schooley's  Mountain,  New  Jersey,  was 
a  favorite  resort  of  both  her  husband  and  herself.  He 
found  there,  for  the  three  or  four  weeks  of  rest  he  per- 
mitted himself  during  the  heats  of  August,  the  recruit- 
ment he  so  much  needed.  He  breathed  there  his  native 
air,  and  he  regained  his  strength  more  rapidly  than  any 
where  else. 

It  is  a  famous  watering-place,  and  within  the  last  four 
or  five  years  much  crowded.  When  they  were  first  in 
the  habit  of  spending  the  summer  there,  the  visitors 
were  comparatively  few,  and  principally  people  from 
Charleston,  Baltimore  and  Philadelphia,  amongst  whom 
were  many  of  their  early  friends  and  acquaintance. 

In  addition  to  escaping  for  a  few  weeks  from  the 
thronging  avocations  of  his  life,  he  enjoyed  there  a 
quiet,  the  most  retired  country  spot  in  the  land  would 
have  failed  to  afford  him.     They  always  had  their  own 


462  LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

little  room.  Nobody  came  near  it.  Everybody  knew 
him  and  his  habits,  and  with  the  delicate  sense  of  pro- 
priety, which  is,  perhaps,  the  best  thing  learned  in 
society,  carefully  abstained  from  intruding  on  them.  A 
few  books  on  some  important  subject,  about  which  he 
wished  to  get  up  a  ':  report,"  or  formalize  a  plan,  were 
his  companions,  and  liberated  entirely  from  the  harass- 
ing interruptions  to  which  every  moment  of  his  time  at 
home  was  exposed,  he  prepared  his  work,  and,  as  may 
be  seen  by  many  important  letters  already  quoted,  wrote 
up  his  widely-scattered  correspondence.  It  may  be 
well  to  remark  here  with  regard  to  his  correspondence, 
that  we  have  not  pretended  even  to  give  an  abstract  of 
it.  Extending  over  nearly  forty  years,  directed  to 
every  quarter  of  the  globe,  and  occupied  with  every 
subject  of  benevolent  enterprise  or  denominational 
interest,  it  would,  of  itself  alone,  have  filled  several 
volumes,  if  collected  together.  In  a  notice  of  so  varied 
and  important  a  "  life,"  it  would  have  been  entirely 
impossible  to  do  so. 

When  tired  of  writing  he  would  now  and  then  take  a 
turn  up  and  down  the  long  piazza  of  the  hotel,  or  arm 
and  arm  with  his  inseparable  companion,  for  they  never 
tired  of  each  other's  company,  stroll  slowly  away  through 
the  woody  walks,  and  pleasant  solitudes  of  the  plateau, 
upon  the  mountain  top,  where  the  hotels  are  built. 
Five  minutes  brought  them,  in  any  direction,  to  a  seclu- 
sion as  complete,  as  if  they  had  been  a  thousand  miles 
away  from  the  scenes  of  civilized  life.  There  was  one 
particular  spot  he  always  sought  at  the  going  down  of 
the  sun.  It  was  a  point  from  which  its  last  rays  could 
be  seen,  coloring  the  undulating  line  of  hills  which  lay 
beyond  the  deep  valley  below.  There  he  would  stand 
quite  alone,  sometimes  for  an  hour,  watching  the  glories 
of  the  sunset,  till  the  crimson  and  gold  faded  into  their 


LIFE   OF   SPENCER   IIOUGHTON    CONE.  463 

lines  of  misty  grey.  He  seemed  at  such,  times  to  be  so 
full  of  quiet  and  heavenly  contemplation  that  if,  by 
accident,  Ave  came  near  where  he  was,  we  passed  on. 
We  knew  the  temper  of  his  mind,  and  how  sweetly 
then,  with  how  full  a  soul,  he  was  dwelling  upon  the 
perfection  of  the  Creator,  and  adoring  Him  in  His 
works. 

Frequently,  at  the  desire  of  a  great  number  of  the 
visitors,  one  of  the  parlors  was  set  apart  for  prayers,  and 
all  who  desired  went  in  whilst  he  read  a  chapter  in  the 
Bible  and  offered  a  prayer.  Many  men  and  women 
kneeled  and  listened  there  to  what  they  had  perhaps 
never  heard  before,  for  in  his  public  prayers,  as  in  his 
sermons,  the  way  of  salvation  for  sinners  through  the 
alone  merits'  sake  of  the  blood  of  Christ  was  very  plainly 
preached.  After  that,  and  never  later  than  half  past 
nine,  he  retired  to  sleep.  Next  day  he  rose  betimes 
and  wrote  or  walked  out  through  the  fields  and  woods 
till  breakfast  time — and  so  the  day  passed.  On  the 
Sabbath  he  usually  preached  in  the  little  stone  chapel, 
which  stands  a  hundred  yards  or  so  from  the  mountain 
Houses.  Writing  to  his  sister  Martha  from  Schooley's 
Mountain,  he  says : 

"  I  preached  to  a  very  fashionable,  and  attentive 
audience  last  Sunday  morning  from  Luke — last  four 
verses — and  dwelt  particularly  upon  the  divinity  of 
Christ,  and  the  joy  and  fortitude  of  those  who  worship 
Him  in  spirit  and  in  truth.  My  heart  was  enlarged, 
and  seeing  before  me  two  or  three  hundred  of  the 
fashionables  of  our  country,  who,  perhaps  seldom  hear 
the  Gospel  of  the  Grace  of  God,  and  who  under  other 
circumstances  would  probably  never  have  heard  me,  I 
could  not  but  hope  that  some  precious  soul  might  be 
benefited.  The  rich  are  generally  envied !  but  oh,  it 
is  a  melancholy  thought,  that  it  is  easier  for  a  camel  to 


464:  LIFE   OF    SPENCER    HOUGHTON    CONE. 

pass  through  the  eye  of  a  needle,  than  for  a  rich  man  to 
enter  into  the  kingdom  of  Heaven !  How  soon,  oh 
how  soon,  in  most  instances,  the  purple  and  fine  linen 
are  changed  for  the  garments  of  despair." 

Another  time : 

"  I  rode  eight  or  nine  miles  yesterday  along  the 
mountain,  and  preached  to  a  little  Baptist  church  with 
much  comfort." 

In  a  letter  written  from  there  the  next  year,  he  says  : 
"Last  Lord's  day  I  rested,  and  now  begin  to  feel  like 
preaching  again.  But  do  you  know  that  I  begin  to 
understand  what  grey  hairs  mean?  I  am  an  old  man. 
My  brethren  in  the  ministry  call  me  their  venerable 
brother  and  father.  Only  think  of  it.  It  seems  but 
yesterday  when  we  were  playing  children  in  Princeton. 
Now  I  am  old  and  grey-headed.  O,  Lord,  forsake  me 
not !  Thou  hast  been  the  guide  of  my  youth,  and  my 
prayer  shall  be  to  the  God  of  my  life." 

Many  meetings  there  brought  back  old  times  and 
feelings.  "  Lawyer  M.,"  he  says,  "  and  family,  have 
been  here  since  our  arrival.  They  introduced  them- 
selves very  soon  as  part  of  the  old  W.  family,  and  then 
you  know  as  I  had  to  go  back  to  my  old  Dr.  Abercombie 
connection,  1802 — 1806,  it  seemed  to  threaten  to  get  the 
ladies  out  of  their  teens  sooner  than  they  were  aware. 
But  then  it  was  so  easy  to  remember  that  they  were 
wild  and  very  young  chits  of  girls,  while  I  was  quite 
old  !  An  old  schoolmaster  of 'fifteen.  But  no  matter  ;  I 
am  old  now — pressing  on  to  the  three  score  years. 
"Whether  the  ten  will  be  added  the  Lord  only  knows, 
and  in  His  hands  most  cheerfully  I  leave  it.  He  hath 
done  all  things  well,  and  it  is  my  daily  prayer  and  my 
heartfelt  desire  to  praise  Him  for  all  that  is  past,  and  to 
trust  Him  for  all  that  is  to  come." 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Cone  spent  many  quiet  happy  hours 


LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE.  465 

together  there.  She  suffered,  however,  constantly,  for 
five  years,  with  ulcerated  mouth  and  tongue.  Medicine 
would  not  reach  it.  The  air  and  chalybeate  waters  of 
the  mineral  spring,  for  which  the  mountain  is  famous, 
partially  relieved  her,  but  the  disease  remained. 

Early  in  August,  1854,  a  strange  presentiment 
seemed  to  forewarn  her.  Riding  out  with  him  one  day, 
they  passed  the  little  secluded  cemetery  at  Pleasant 
Grove,  about  three  miles  from  the  mountain,  and  a 
stone's  throw  from  a  little  knot  of  houses  called  Anderson 
Town.  She  made  him  stop,  and  after  looking  long  and 
wistfully  over  the  place,  and  marking  all  its  peculiari- 
ties of  quiet  and  seclusion,  she  said  :  "  Spencer,  I  have 
a  horror  of  city  burying-places.  They  do  not  let  even 
the  dead  rest,  near  cities.  Promise  me,  when  I  am 
dead,  that  you  will  lay  me  here — here  in  this  quiet 
place!"  and  he  promised  her. 

Only  a  few  days  after  she  was  attacked  by  typhoid 
fever.  Her  husband  and  her  son  nursed  her — how  ten- 
derly we  need  not  say.  She  was  all  the  world  to  them, 
the  comfort  and  idol  of  their  lives. 

Her  husband  spoke  cheeringly  to  her  about  change 
of  air,  and  taking  her  home  to  New  York  as  soon  as  she 
was  able  to  be  moved.  She  answered  quietly.  "  I  shall 
go  home — to  heaven — from  the  mountain  this  time, 
dearest !" 

And,  indeed,  upon  the  15th  day  of  August,  1854,  she 
went  home.  They  saw  that  she  was  dying,  and  her 
husband  leaned  down,  and  asked  her  if  Jesus  was  with 
her  for  the  way  through  the  dark  valley.  She  looked 
happily  into  his  eyes,  and  whispered  her  Saviour's 
name.  She  never  spoke  again,  and  about  ten  o'clock  at 
night  fell  asleep  in  Him. 

When  his  son  came  into  his  room,  and  found  him 
sitting  alone,  his  head  bowed  listi  essly  upon  his  breast; 

20* 


466  LIFE   OF    SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

he  turned  to  him,  and  seeing  him  weep,  said  softly: 
"  Weep  on,  my  boy,  you  are  young.  Your  poor  old 
father  has  not  been  able  to  weep  yet,"  and  then  we  felt 
more  bitterly  for  him  who  was  left  desolate,  than  for 
her  who  had  gone  before. 

And  the  next  day,  as  there  was  none  else  to  do  it  for 
her,  he  stood  by  her  coffin  in  the  little  chapel,  and 
preached  Christ  to  the  people,  with  such  a  strange, 
unnatural  power  and  calmness,  it  was  almost  as  if  one 
dead  had  been  speaking  to  the  living.  What  words  he 
said  we  know  not.  Our  minds  were,  alas !  too  full  of 
busy  sorrows  to  take  them  in  ;  but  the  place  was  full  of 
men  and  women  of  the  world,  and  they  heard  and 
remembered.  That  act  by  which  all  selfish  weakness 
was  put  aside  until  a  holy  duty  was  performed,  and  the 
supreme  sacrifice  and  offering  of  human  love  was  made 
for  her,  seemed  to  them,  what  indeed  it  was,  an  un- 
equalled spectacle  of  Christian  heroism.  There  was, 
perhaps,  hardly  any  there  in  whom  the  sentiments  of 
religion  commonly  awoke  a  tender  feeling ;  and  yet,  not 
women  only,  but  hard  and  careless  men  of  the  world,  to 
whom  fashion  and  amusement  was  the  sole  business  of 
life,  bowed  their  heads,  and  wept  like  children.  And 
one,  a  woman,  on  whom  fortune  and  fashion  have 
lavished  all  their  gifts,  a  woman  yet  young,  and  with 
all  the  world's  desires  at  her  feet,  said  to  us  afterwards  : 
"  As  I  sat  there,  and  saw  that  astonishing  exhibition  of 
heroic  love,  nothing  but  shame  kept  me  from  shrieking 
aloud.  You  must  not  sorrow  for  her.  If  I  could  die  as 
she  did,  I  would  pray  to  die  to-night !" 

And  we  buried  her  in  the  little  grave-yard  at 
Pleasant  Grove.  What  sustained  her  husband,  and 
made  the  broken-hearted  stronger  than  they  who  had 
known  no  sorrow  ? 

" Dear  Brother  " — he  says  to  lis  friend  Baron  Stow, 


LIFE   OF    SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE.  467 

«  my  loss  is  indeed  great— irreparable !     My  dear  Sally 
was  one  of  the  best  of  wives.     True  and  faithful ;  indus- 
trious and  loving  ;  making  her  house  a  place  of  rest  and 
happiness  for  her  husband  always,  for  more  than  turfy- 
one  rears,  whatever  might  have  been  the  occasional  trials 
and  annoyances  without-whatever  the  toils  and  anxie- 
ties of  a  pastor's  life;  and  you  will  believe  that  mine 
have    not   been  few.      I  am  left  alone,    and  yet  not     . 
alone,  for  Christ  is  with  me ;  his  rod  and  staff  they  com- 
fort me.  , 
"  I  received  the  last  sigh  of  my  darling,  and  parted 
from  her  without  a  tear,  and  spoke  at  her  burial  with 
holy  confidence  and  joy.     Do  you  ask   how  was  this? 
Through  Grace  that  strengthened  me.     An  overwhelm- 
ing sense  of  gratitude  to  God  for  giving  me  such  a  wife 
Jfor  lending  her  to  me  so  long— for  blessing  her  with 
the  assurance  of  faith  and  hope  unto  the  end— and  for 
taking  her  at  last  from  sin  and  sorrow  and  sickness  and 
pahvto  the  mansions  of  peace  and  holiness  and  joy! 
made  my  cup  of  bliss  full  even  to  overflowing,  and  I 
could  say  with  David,  from  my  inmost  soul,  '  Oh  God, 
my  heart  is  fixed!  my  heart  is  fixed!  I  will  smg  and 

give  praise !' " 

And  to  his  early  companion  in  arms,  and  afterwards 

in  the  ministry— Dr.  Dagg :  . 

«  The  Lord  has  indeed  removed  from  me  the  desire 
of  my  eves  with  a  stroke  !  My  best  earthly  friend;  the 
mother  of  my  children  ;  the  wife  of  my  youth  and  of 
my  old  age.  It  was  a  heavy  stroke,  but  I  remembered 
that  the  hand  which  inflicted  the  blow  was  that  same 
hand  that  was  nailed  to  the  Cross  for  me,  for  her,  and 
I  was  dumb— I  opened  not  my  mouth  to  complain;  I 
shed  no  tear ;  I  was  a  wonder,  not  only  to  many ;  but 
most-most  of  all  to  myself.  I  have  not  language  to 
tell  yon  how  the  Lord  has  bee  1  a  present  help  in  the 


468  LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

time  of  trouble,  and  has  strengthened  me  by  a  bereave- 
ment which,  when  anticipated  only,  I  have  for  years 
thought  would  well-nigh  break  my  doating  heart. 

"  When  I  held  her  hand  and  heard  her  last  sigh,  and 
all  was  still  as  death,  I  was  filled,  in  the  twinkling  of 
an  eye,  with  an  overwhelming  sense  of  gratitude  to 
God  that  He  had  given  me  such  a  wife,  and  had  lent 
her  to  me  so  long  !  And  my  joy  of  soul  was  equal  to 
my  gratitude,  when  I  saw  her  released  from  sorrow, 
pain  and  sin ;  and  in  the  exercise  of  faith  and  hope  and 
love,  could  follow  her  emancipated  spirit  home  to  the 
mansions  of  peace  and  holiness  and  rest. 

"  Two  passages  of  sacred  Scripture  came  to  me  with 
omnipotent  sweetness.  "  How  precious  are  thy  thoughts 
unto  me  O  God  !'  and — '  So  He  giveth  His  beloved 
sleep.' 

"  What  I  now  feel  but  cannot  describe  is  loneliness.  I 
come  home  from  my  work,  and  go  into  the  parlor — she, 
who  was  emphatically  '  a  keeper  at  home,'  is  not  there! 
I  go  to  the  bed-room,  to  the  table,  she  is  not  there — 
but  still  I  am  supported  by  the  everlasting  arms.  The 
crook  and  staff  of  the  good  Shepherd,  they  comfort 
me. 

"  You  ask  if  my  views  have  changed  with  reference  to 
what  are  usually  known  as  'The  doctrines  of  Grace.' 
!N"ot  a  jot.  The  10th  of  John,  and  8th  of  Romans,  and 
1st  and  2nd  of  Ephesians  are  dear  to  me  as  ever.  Grace 
reigning  through  righteousness  unto  eternal  life  by 
Jesus  Christ  our  Lord,  is  the  only  plan  by  which  sinners 
can  be  saved.  If  I  am  not  complete  in  Christ,  I  have 
no  hope  of  ever  entering  into  the  mansions  of  bliss. 
But  I  hear  him  say,  '  Because  I  live  ye  shall  live  also,' 
and  then  I  reply  with  holy  boldness,  surely  I  shall 
dwell  in  the  house  of  the  Lord  for  ever ! 

"  I  shall  be  70  if  I  live  till  the  30th  of  April  next,  and 


LIFE    OF    SFENCEK   HOUGHTON    CONE.  469 

•find  my  pastoral  labors,  witU Board  meetings,  &c,  quite 
as  much  as  I  can  stagger  under  ;  but  /  mean,  in  spite 
of  earth  or  bell,  to  die  on  the  field  of  battle.  This  is 
what  I  mean  to  do,  but  whether  it  will  turn  out  to  be 
so — I  cannot  tell ;  the  Lord  knoweth. 

"When  you  have  leisure,  write  to  me.  Your  letter 
was  a  great  comfort  to  me.  Christian  sympathy  is  a 
reality — it  is  needed — it  is  in  accordance  with  tbe  yearn- 
ings of  the  inner-man.  Else,  why  did  Christ  take  Peter, 
and  James,  and  John,  to  watch  and  pray  with  him  in 
the  Garden  ?  They  fell  asleep,  I  know,  but  that  may 
serve  to  show  how  far,  but  no  further,  human  sympathy 
may  go,  and  direct  us  after  all,  and  above  all,  to  look  to 
Him  whose  eyes  do  neither  slumber  nor  sleep. 

"  I  have  been  going  back  to  Virginia  all  the  evening, 
1816 — what  a  memorable  year!  My  dear  Sally  and 
many  others  that  year,  and  the  next,  were  immersed  in 
the  Potomac.  Sweet  seasons !  I  thank  God  for  them — ■ 
they  will  never  return  ;  young  has  passed  away,  and 
old  has  come. 

"  Farewell,  dear  friends  of  my  early  Christian  life  ;  if 
we  are  not  to  meet  again  on  earth,  I  trust  we  shall  meet 
in  Heaven ! 

"  As  ever,  thine,  in  the  Crucified  One !" 


470  LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 


CHAPTER   XXV. 

After  his  return  from  Chicago,  in  May,  1S55,  there 
was  an  evident  change  in  him.  We  did  not  notice  it  so 
much  at  home  as  strangers  did.  When  we  were  with 
him  in  the  house  he  was  always  so  lively  and  pleasant, 
that  he  quite  deceived  us  as  to  the  real  state  of  his 
health.  He  would  often  say,  "  I  am  getting  old,  boys, 
and  feel  hard  work  more  than  I  used  to  do."  But  he 
went  about  his  work  just  as  he  had  always  done: 
and,  indeed,  during  that  last  year  did  more  than  ever, 
preaching  oftener,  and  with  greater  fire  and  energy,  if 
possible,  and  busying  himself  every  hour  of  the  day 
with  some  of  the  manifold  duties  which  were  laid  upon 
him.  Going  by  the  study  door,  however,  in  the  evening 
we  would  see  him  sitting  in  his  arm-chair,  his  head 
thrown  listlessly  back,  and  his  whole  figure  wearing  an 
appearance  of  weakness  and  exhaustion.  Attributing 
it  to  his  loneliness,  for  whilst  she  lived  his  wife 
always  sat  in  the  room  with  him  in  the  evening,  busy 
with  her  sewing  or  book,  whilst  he  paced  the  floor  back- 
wards and  forwards,  talking  to  himself  in  an  under 
tone  :  attributing  it  to  her  absence  from  the  accustomed 
seat,  rather  than  to  a  failure  of  his  own  physical  powers, 
we  would  leave  our  own  purposes  for  the  evening,  and 
20  in  and  chat  with  him.  He  always  rallied  at  once, 
and  fell  into  animated  conversation  on  matters  of  gene- 
ral interest.  We  never  talked  about  mother.  Each  of 
us  knew  that  the  other  was  thinking  more  about  her  than 
about  what  we  were  talking  of;  but  with  a  pardonable 
insincerity,  wto   all  pretended  to  be  absorbed  in  the 


LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   GONE.  471 

question  of  the  minute ;  and  each  fancied  that  he  had 
deceived  the  other  in  believing  that  all  was  well  about 
the  heart. 

Dr.  Armitage  has  told,  alas  !  too  truly  how  the  blow 
fell  upon  him  whose  comforter  she  had  been  through  all 
the  chansnno;  scenes  of  an  eventful  life. 

"  From  the  death  of  Mrs.  Cone,  in  August,  1854,  he 
felt  that  his  own  work  was  nearly  done.  When  she  who 
had  stood  by  his  side  in  all  the  changes  of  forty  years 
was  taken  away,  he  realized,  as  he  never  had  before, 
that  human  life  is  bounded  by  three  score  years  and  ten, 
and  that  his  foot  rested  on  the  margin  of  those  bounds. 
The  pain  of  that  event  made  him  tread  the  few  paces 
that  were  left  more  heavily,  and  he  could  not  have 
endured  it  for  a  day,  but  for  the  special  support  which 
he  drew  from  the  precious  promises  of  Christ.  Nay, 
with  all  these  consolations,  it  was  a  blow  from  which  he 
never  fully  recovered.  No  man  could  be  more  devoted 
to  his  wife  than  Dr.  Cone  was  to  her  whom  he  so  ten- 
derly characterizes,  as,  "The  wife  of  my  youth,  the  com- 
panion of  my  age,  the  sharer  of  my  sorrows  and  my 
joys ;  affectionate,  faithful,  and  true,  her  price  was 
above  rubies." 

"  I  can  never  forget  a  scene  which  occurred  in  my 
own  pulpit  on  the  4th  of  June  last,  illustrative  of  his 
deep  sorrow  under  this  bereavement.  A  young  minis- 
had  lost  his  wife,  and  had  brought  her  to  the  house 
of  God  where  she  formerly  worshipped,  that  we  might 
celebrate  her  funeral  services.  Dr.  Cone  was  present, 
and  rose  in  the  pulpit  to  address  the  friends.  But  as  he 
opened  his  mouth  to  speak,  his  eye  caught  a  glance  of 
the  young  brother,  quivering  with  suppressed  grief 
before  the  coffin  of  his  sleeping  wife.  The  sight  was 
too  much  for  his  very  sensitive  heart,  and  he  was  over- 
whelmed.    For  some  moments  he  stood  unable  to  utter 


472  LIFE   OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

a  word.  The  big  tears  came  pouring  down  his  cheeks, 
and  he  attempted  to  brace  himself  against  his  emotions, 
in  his  own  j:>eculiar  way,  but  failed.  At  length,  regain- 
ing perfect  control  of  his  heart,  he  said,  in  tones  of 
hallowed  tenderness,  "  It  is  hard  to  bury  a  young  wife, 
my  dear  brother.  But  when  you  have  lived  with  one 
forty  and  two  years — the  wife  of  your  youth,  the  mother 
of  your  children,  the  companion  of  your  lonely  hours, 
the  undeviating  and  always  reliable  friend  of  your 
whole  life — then,  indeed,  the  stroke  is  heavy.''  " 

On  the  Sabbath,  being  the  5th  day  of  August,  he 
baptized  in  the  morning,  and  when  he  came  home, 
appeared  quite  tired  out.  At  dinner  he  complained  of 
numbness  in  his  limbs,  and  especially  in  his  left  arm. 
We  felt  no  serious  apprehensions,  however.  He  had  had 
during  his  life  several  slight  attacks  of  bilious  fever, 
preceded  by  the  same  symptoms.  So  we  told  him  that 
he  ought  to  be  careful,  and  recollect  that  his  bilious 
attacks  always  commenced  that  way.  We  tried  very 
hard  to  persuade  him  to  stay  at  home  for  the  rest  of  that 
day,  and  let  us  tell  the  deacons  that  they  must  get  a 
supply  for  the  pulpit.  But  he  would,  not  listen  to  us. 
He  had  to  break  bread  in  the  afternoon,  he  said;  it 
would  wear  off ;  he  often  felt  very  sick  before  he  began 
to  preach,  but  preaching  cured  him ;  and  that  afternoon 
he  preached  his  last  Sabbath  sermon,  from  the  text 
"  No  man  cometh  unto  the  Father  but  by  me,"  and 
commemorated  for  the  last  time,  with  the  people  of  his 
heart,  the  dying  love  of  that  Saviour,  unto  whom  his 
prayer  for  many  months  had  been  "  even  so,  Lord 
Jesus,  come  quickly !" 

He  spoke  again  for  them  at  the  prayer-meeting  on 
Tuesday  evening,  and  some  have  said  since,  that  he 
seemed  to  have  a  difficulty  they  had  never  observed 
before,  in  fixing  his  mind  upon  the  subject,  and  spoke 


LIFE    OF   SPENCER   HOUGHTON    CONE.  473 

several  times  during  the  lecture  in  a  rambling  and 
uncertain  way. 

On  the  9th,  Mr.  Gwathney,  of  Virginia,  an  old  friend, 
called  on  him,  and  he  said:  "I  have  been  working 
very  hard  and  incessantly,  from  the  age  of  fourteen  till 
now,  and  now  I  begin  to  feel  that  my  work  is  done." 

On  the  morning  of  the  10th,  after  breakfast,  all  that 
was  left  of  the  little  family  came  into  the  study  as  usual 
to  morning  worship.  Sometimes  he  would  read  a  chap- 
ter from  the  Bible  himself,  and  sometimes  ask  one  of 
us  to  read.  Latterly,  indeed,  he  almost  always  said  to 
one  of  us,  "  Read  a  chapter,  my  son — read  us  one  of 
those  sweet  psalms  of  David."  It  may  have  been 
merely  fancy,  but  we  used  to  think  he  liked  to  hear  our 
voices  repeating  the  words  of  the  book,  and  felt  as  if  so 
he  drew  his  children  closer  with  him  around  the  family 
altar. 

That  morning,  however,  he  took  the  book  and  began 
to  read.  Twice  during  the  reading  he  stopped,  as  if  a 
blur  passed  over  his  sight.  We  were  surprised  at  it,  for 
it  was  very  unusual,  and  the  idea  that  he  was  threat- 
ened with  a  bilious  attack  was  strengthened.  After 
reading,  he  knelt  and  prayed.  His  prayer  was  so  unu- 
sual that  it  made  an  immediate  impression.  Ordinarily 
he  prayed  for  the  prosperity  of  the  cause  of  Christ ;  for 
his  beloved  country ;  for  all  who  were  near  and  dear  to 
him  by  the  tender  ties  of  consanguinity  or  affection; 
for  strength  and  counsel  from  above  to  do  the  work  his 
Master  gave  him  to  do;  for  guidance  through  the  day; 
for  humility  and  singleness  of  heart;  but  now  he  prayed 
for  none  of  these  things.  His  prayer  was  one  earnest, 
almost  passionate  supplication  for  himself.  Like  Jacob, 
he  seemed  wrestling  with  God  at  the  foot  of  the  ladder, 
and  saying,  "I  will  not  let  Thee  go  except  Thou  bless 
me."     He  had  been  set  as  an  under-shepherd  over  the 


474:        LIFE  OF.  SPENCER  HOUGHTON  CONE. 

flock,  and  he  asked  to  be  permitted  to  give  up  Lis 
charge  into  the  hands  of  the  Good  Shepherd.  He  had 
been  set  as  a  watchman  upon  the  walls  of  Zion,  and 
he  prayed  that  he  might  be  found  free  from  the  blood 
of  all  men.  He  had  been  made  a  steward  and  a  servant 
of  the  Most  High,  and  acknowledging  all  his  im worthi- 
ness, all  his  weakness — entreating  his  Master  to  forgive 
the  unprofitable  servant,  to  pardon  the  steward  if  he 
had  hidden  any  talent  given  to  his  keeping,  he  prayed 
with  touching  humility  that  in  some  few  things,  at  least, 
he  might  not  be  found  unfaithful. 

It  was  his  last  audible  prayer.  As  he  kneeled,  his  Lord 
had  said  to  him  :  "  Servant,  thy  work  is  done.  Son, 
come  up  higher." 

He  went  up  stairs  into  his  chamber  to  make  some 
change  in  his  dress.  His  son  was  in  the  next  room. 
Hearing  a  step,  he  turned  and  saw  him  standing  near 
the  door,  very  pale,  and  trying  to  button  his  waistcoat. 
He  went  hastily  to  him,  exclaiming,  "  What  is  the  mat- 
ter with  you,  father?" 

"  I  believe  you  must  button  it  for  me,  my  son ;  my 
hand  is  very  numb."  His  son  put  his  arm  around  him, 
and  stopped  to  do  as  he  desired.  As  he  did  so,  his 
father  said,  "I  am  very  sick,"  and  looking  up,  his  son 
saw  the  change  pass  over  his  face,  and  felt  his  limbs 
stiffen.  His  arms  were  around  him,  or  he  would  have 
fallen.  He  laid  him  on  the  bed,  and  just  at  that 
moment  Deacon  Hillman,  one  of  his  most  attached 
friends,  came  into  the  house.  He  was  immediately 
called  up  to  the  chamber,  and  together  they  undressed 
him,  and  rubbed  his  paralyzed  limbs  and  side.  As 
they  were  doing  so,  he  said  to  the  deacon:  "I-have 
kept  on  the  harness  till  my  work  is  done.  The  spirit  of 
a  man  will  sustain  his  infirmity,  but  a  wounded  spirit 
who  can  bear?    But  I  have  no  wounded  spirit.     What 


LIFE    OF   SPEXCER   HOUGHTON   CONE.  475 

a  blessed  thing  it  is  to  know  that  when  Ave  leave  this 
world,  we  are  going  to  a  better  place." 

Dr.  Thomas  Markoe  was  immediately  called  in,  and 
a  telegraphic  dispatch  sent  to  Dr.  Devan,  who  was  in 
the  country  with  his  family. 

Dr.  Devan,  a  bosom  friend,  and  for  many  years  the 
family  physician,  left  everything  on  the  instant  to  come 
to  him  ;  sat  by  him ;  scarcely  left  the  house  indeed  for 
days,  but  slept  a  little,  at  night,  in  an  adjoining  room, 
until  what  was  considered  the  crisis  of  the  disease  was 
over.  All  that  human  skill  and  kindness  on  the  part  of 
his  physicians  could  do,  was  clone.  Human  skill,  how- 
ever was  at  fault ;  the  quiet  comatose  state  into  which 
he  immediately  fell,  and  which  was  for  some  time  con- 
sidered favorable,  never  altered — he  never  rallied. 
"When  spoken  to  about  ordinary  matters  he  would 
answer  very  briefly,  for  he  articulated  with  great  dif- 
ficulty. He  answered  always,  sensibly.  Active  thought 
however  was  extinct ;  he  never  went  beyond  the  answer 
to  the  question. 

Dr.  Devan  tried  several  times  to  arouse  his  mind 
with  regard  to  the  church  ;  but  it  was  in  vain.  He 
would  make  no  answer,  once  only  after  the  doctor  had 
said,  "I  am  going  to  the  church — have  you  anything  to 
say  to  them  ?"  he  looked  after  him  as  he  went  out,  and 
said  slowly,  "  I  should  like  to  finish  my 'exposition  of 
the  22nd  of  Kevelation." 

"With  that  exception  he  never  mentioned  anything 
relating  to  the  matters  in  which  his  mind  had  been  so 
long  and  ardently  employed.  The  stroke  seemed  at 
once  to  have  paralyzed  both  mind  and  body. 

It  may  have  been  a  vain  fancy  on  our  part ;  but  we 
could  not  help  thinking  the  hand  that  struck  him  down 
at  once,  upon  the  battle  field,  was  full  of  mercy.  He 
had  been  so  strong;  so  filled  and  overflowing  with  life 


476  LITE   OF    SPENCER   HOUGHTON    CONE. 

and  energy ;  so  active,  every  waking  moment,  that 
when  we  saw  him  helpless,  and  the  physicians  told  us, 
"  even  if  he  recover,  he  will  never  preach  or  work 
again,"  we  had  no  more  hope  of  his  life.  Something  in 
our  hearts  told  us  he  had  fallen  as  he  longed  to  fall — 
"  in  the  harness."  His  Master  had  honored  his  energy 
and  activity  so  much,  he  had  been  so  marked  by  it, 
that  we  felt  he  would  not  try  him  with  lingering  years 
of  useless  painful  life.  Dear  as  he  was  to  us,  we  knew 
that  he  was  dearer  to  his  Lord.  Our  selfish  love  would 
have  kept  the  faded  form,  to  watch  and  tend,  vain  per- 
haps to  think  that  he  was  all  ours,  and  nothing  else  could 
come  between  him  and  our  love.  But  He  who  loved 
him  better  than  we  could,  He  who  died  for  him,  would 
not  suffer  it  to  be  so.  He  would  not  leave  him  in  the 
world,  after  the  work  which  He  had  given  him  to  do 
was  done.  The  everlasting  crown  was  ready  for  him, 
and  his  Lord  would  have  him  wear  it.  And  so,  after 
he  had  lain  very  tranquil,  and  with  scarce  a  groan  or 
sigh,  for  eighteen  days,  on  the  morning  of  the  nine- 
teenth, which  was  the  28th  day  of  August,  1855,  he  fell 
into  a  deep  sleep — and  was  not,  for  God  took  him. 

Only  a  little  while  before,  we  went  together  to  lay  his 
granddaughter  Alice  on  her  grandmother's  bosom,  at 
Pleasant  Grove.  The  coffin  was  enclosed  in  a  plain 
pine  box.  The  father  of  the  child  took  it  in  his  arms  to 
carry  it  from  the  cars  to  the  carriage.  As  he  did  so 
one  of  the  men  about  the  depot  stepped  up  kindly  and 
asked  to  help  him.  After  we  had  laid  it  in  the  carriage 
we  saw  father  put  a  small  piece  of  gold  in  his  hand. 
The  man  looked  up  surprised,  and  hesitated  to  take  it. 
Father  shut  his  hand  on  it,  and  motioned  him  gently 
away — saying,  "  The  thing  you  touched  was  wry  pre- 
cious tc  us — she  v.  as  worth  more  than  gold — keep  it." 

And  now  our  father,  and  our  mother,  and  their  little 


477  LIFE    OF    SPENCER   HOUGHTON   CONE. 

grandchild,  lie  side  by  side  in  the  quiet  burial-place,  far 
away  among  the  hills  of  his  native  State.  But  the  least 
of  them  does  ever  behold  her  Father's  face  in  heaven, 
and  they  all  have  entered  into  the  holiest,  by  a  new 
and  living  way;  by  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  which 
cleanseth  from  all  sin. 


THE   END 


APPENDIX   I.  479 


APPENDIX    I. 

The  following  kind  note  from  President  Wayland,  of 
Brown  University,  was  mislaid,  and  we  did  not  find  it 
until  after  the  entire  volume  had  been  stereotyped.  It 
should  properly  have  been  inserted  in  connection  with 
Dr.  Stow's  communication  on  the  subject  of  Foreign 
Missions,  at  page  313. 

Providence,  Nov.  20th,  1855. 

*  *  It  would  give  me  great  pleasure  to  have  it  in 
my  power  to  add  anything  to  the  interest  of  the  memoir 
which  you  propose  to  publish,  of  the  life  and  labors  of 
your  late  honored  father.  I  sincerely  regret,  however, 
that  I  have  so  few  reminiscences  that  would  be  of  ser- 
vice to  you. 

I  first  became  acquainted  with  your  father,  if  I  recol- 
lect aright,  about  the  time  of  my  settlement  in  Boston. 
Afterwards  for  several  years,  I  used  to  meet  him  at  our 
public  anniversaries,  over  which  he  commonly,  and  very 
admirably  presided.  *  *  Of  late  I  have  been  una- 
ble to  attend  those  meetings  so  frequently,  and  I  have 
met  him  but  rarely.  Indeed  I  do  not  remember  to  have 
conversed  with  him  since  the  formation  of  the  Missionary 
Union.  On  this  occasion,  we  were,  for  several  days, 
thrown  much  together.  Every  member  of  the  commit- 
tee appointed  to  prepare  the  form  of  a  constitution  to 
be  submitted  to  the  public  meeting,  was  struck  with 
the  frankness,  kindness,  and  admirable  judgment  mani- 
fested by  him  on  that  occasion.  "When  the  draft  was 
agreed  upon,  the  duty  of  advocating  it  in  the  public 


480  APPENDIX   L 

debate,  was,  by  common  consent,  assigned  to  him.  Of 
the  manner  in  which  he  performed  this  service  there 
has  never  been  but  one  opinion.  I  have  frequently 
heard  it  remarked,  that  no  man  in  our  country,  of  any 
profession,  could  have  done  it  so  well.  In  all  the  dis- 
cussions, he  exhibited  great  readiness  and  acuteness, 
with  perfect  knowledge  of  his  subject  and  of  his 
audience,  enforcing  his  views  with  an  irresistible  elo- 
quence, which  carried  the  final  vote,  without,  I  believe, 
a  single  dissenting  voice.  The  adoption  of  that  consti- 
tution was  owing  more  to  your  father's  efforts  than  to 
those  of  all  the  rest  of  us  put  together.  Without  him,  I 
do  not  believe  that  it  could  have  been  carried.  But 
this  is  not  all ;  in  several  points  he  differed  somewhat 
from  his  brethren  of  the  committee.  But  it  was 
observed  by  us  all  with  great  admiration,  that  he  advo- 
cated just  as  forcibly,  and  as  eloquently,  those  articles 
in  which  he  had  not  originally  agreed  with  us,  as  those 
which  had  from  the  beginning  met  his  approval. 

Magnanimity  of  this  kind  was  perfectly  in  harmony 
with  all  that,  by  personal  acquaintance,  I  have  known 
of  his  character. 


APPENDIX  n.  481 


APPENDIX    II. 

The  following  letter  from  Dr.  Maclay,  was  handed  to  us,  too 
late  for  insertion  in  the  body  of  the  memoir.  Dr.  Maclay 
informed  us  that  owing  to  sickness,  and  engagements  at  a  dis- 
tance, he  was  not  able  to  give  it  to  us  at  an  earlier  period. 
At  his  request,  we  insert  it  here. — Eds. 

New  York,  28th  June,  1850. 
Dear  Brother  Cone : — 

The  God  whom  we  love  and  serve,  in  the  gospel  of  His  son,  has 
preserved  our  lives,  and  I  trust,  in  some  measure,  our  usefulness  in  main- 
taining and  defending  His  truth,  to  a  good  old  age;  while  many  of  our  com- 
panions and  associates  in  the  ministry  have  been  removed  from  the  field 
of  labor  to  enter  into  that  rest  which  remaineth  for  the  people  of  God. 
It  affords  me  great  pleasure  to  reflect  on  the  intimate  and  delightful 
intercourse  which  I  have  enjoyed  with  yourself  and  your  predecessor  in 
the  ministry  in  this  city,  the  venerable  John  Williams  ;  and  with  other 
excellent  brethren  with  whom  we  were  associated.  There  has  been  a 
cordial  union  of  spirit  and  of  action  in  all  the  great  measures  in  which 
we  have  been  engaged  to  advance  the  kingdom  of  our  Lord.  In  the 
great  conflict  which  we  had  in  the  American  Bible  Society  with  our  Pedo- 
Baptist  brethren,  we  were  placed  in  the  minority,  for  all  the  different 
denominations  combined  against  us;  yet  we  remained  unterrified  by  our 
adversaries,  boldly  maintaining,  that  the  inspired  originals  were  the  only 
standard  to  the  translators  of  the  Sacred  Scriptures,  and  that  all  their 
translations  must  be  made,  not  in  conformity  to  the  jarring  views  of  the 
different  sects  and  parties  embraced  in  that  Institution,  but  in  exact  con- 
formity to  the  inspired  oracles  of  God.  We  were  nobly  sustained,  with  a 
very  few  exceptions,  by  our  Baptist  brethren  in  England  and  America,  in 
maintaining  the  great  principle,  that  the  Bible  ought  to  be  faithfully  and 
completely  translated  into  all  the  languages  of  the  nations  without 
human  addition,  diminution  or  concealment.  We  maintained,  with  the 
great  body  of  our  denomination,  ministers  and  people,  that  all  men  ought 
to  have  the  Bible  in  their  own  mother  tongue,  unmutilated  and  undis- 
guised. Our  opponents  charged  us  with  great  inconsistency  in  maintain- 
ing and  defending  the  principle,  that  baptize  and  its  cognates  ought  to 

21 


482  APPENDIX   II. 

be  faithfully  translated  in  all  our  versions  in  heathen  lands,  while  we  con- 
tinued to  circulate  the  common  English  version,  in  which  the  words  rela- 
ting to  the  ordinance  of  baptism  are  transferred,  and  not  translated.  We 
felt  the  force  of  the  objection,  but  replied  that  we  had  no  hand  in  mak- 
ing our  present  English  version ;  it  was  made  by  Episcopalians  to  our 
hands.  We  thought,  however,  that  great  injustice  was  done  to  the  truth 
of  God,  and  to  us  as  a  denomination,  in  concealing  by  non-translation, 
from  the  great  mass  of  the  people  for  whose  benefit  the  translation  was 
designed,  the  true  and  full  meaning  of  the  original  words  relative  to  the 
ordinance  of  baptism — giving  them  to  the  people  in  a  language  which 
they  did  not  understand,  instead  of  plain  English.  We  then  said  most 
solemnly  that  the  day  might  come,  and  we  hoped  was  not  distant,  when 
the  Baptists  would  give  to  the  Morld  a  new  and  revised  version  of  the 
Scriptures  in  the  English  language,  which  in  our  judgment  was  greatly 
needed  ;  allowing  the  great  Teacher  to  speak  to  the  people  in  their  own 
mother  tongue,  in  the  great  commission — "  Go,  disciple  all  nations, 
immersing  them  into  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the 
Holy  Spirit."  I  had  long  before  that  been  convinced  of  the  desirable- 
ness of  a  new,  or  revised  version  of  the  English  Scriptures  ;  and  from 
that  time  to  the  present  my  mind  has  been  more  deeply  impressed  with 
its  importance.  I  had,  in  the  course  of  my  ministry,  expounded  thf 
whole  of  the  New  Testament  and  considerable  portions  of  the  Old  Testa 
ment,  examining  carefully  every  chapter  and  every  verse  ;  and  all  mj 
experience  satisfied  me  that  a  revision  ought  to  be  made,  and  the  error? 
of  our  common  version  corrected.  This  conviction  I  have  not  only  felt, 
but  often  avowed  both  publicly  and  privately  for  the  last  fifteen  years. 

My  reasons  for  desiring  a  revision  are  by  no  means  confined  to  the 
ordinance  of  baptism  ;  for  although  the  common  version  has  many  excel- 
lences, from  which  I  would  not  detract  in  the  slightest  degree,  it  has 
also  many  defects,  and  some  serious  ones  I  am  well  satisfied,  that  have 
no  relation  to  the  ordinance  of  baptism — defects  which  ought  to  be 
remedied  and  not  perpetuated. 

I  had  always  hoped  that  the  American  and  Foreign  Bible  Society 
would  ultimately  undertake  the  work  of  revising  our  English  version.  I 
think  that  a  Bible  Society  is  the  proper  body  to  perform  such  a  work,  or 
to  secure  its  performance.  It  should  be  done  by  men  of  the  highest 
standing  for  learning  and  piety  that  can  be  obtained  in  the  world — men 
thoroughly  versed,  and  critical  students  in  the  Scriptures.  It  should  be 
deliberately  and  thoroughly  done  ;  and  when  it  is  done,  if  any  error  can 
be  pointed  out  by  friend  or  foe,  it  should  be  at  once  corrected,  until  a 
version  is  obtained  as  near  like  the  original  as  honesty  of  purpose,  and 
human  ability  and  industry,  aided  by  the  Holy  Spirit  can  make  it.  But 
there  is  no  body  to  which  the  charge  and  direction  of  the  work  belongr 
eo  appropriately  ns  to  a  Bible  society.     The  American  and  Foreign  BibI 


appendix  n.  483 

Society  was  founded  on  right  principles,  and  if  those  principles  had  been 
carried  out  in  all  languages,  that  Society  would  have  furnished  us  with  a 
revised  version  in  English.  I  wish  from  my  heart  it  had  done  so.  That 
society  has  always  been  very  dear  to  mc.  I  have  labored  hard,  and 
risked  my  life  to  promote  its  prosperity.  I  have  contributed  from  my 
limited  means  towards  the  grand  object  of  giving  to  the  nations  the  pure 
unadulterated  word  of  God,  and  have  been  enabled  through  the  divine 
blessing,  within  the  last  year,  to  constitute  twenty  of  my  family  life-mem- 
bers of  that  society.  Nor  do  I  regret  what  I  have  done.  I  only  wish  I 
had  had  it  in  my  power  to  do  more.  For,  although  I  have  been  disap- 
pointed and  grieved  by  the  recent  movement  of  the  society,  in  refusing 
to  take  any  measures  towards  the  work  of  revising  the  Scriptures  in  Eng- 
lish, and  in  declaring  that  it  was  beyond  its  province  ever  to  perform  or 
procure  such  a  work,  yet  I  feel  no  hostility  towards  the  society,  and  shall 
most  cordially  and  cheerfully  do  what  I  can  consistently  to  promote  its 
original  and  legitimate  object — the  distribution  of  God's  word,  plainly 
and  completely  translated  into  all  the  languages  of  the  world. 

I  am  decidedly  of  the  opinion  that  as  the  American  and  Foreign  Bible 
Society  declined  the  work  of  correcting  our  common  English  version,  it 
was  necessary  to  form  a  new  society  with  this  special  object  in  view : 
and  I  feel  gratified,  on  examining  the  Constitution  and  Address  of  the 
American  Bible  Union,  to  find  its  principles  and  provisions  so  well 
adapted  to  the  work  which  the  providence  of  God  has  thrown  upon  our 
hands.  I  love  union  on  Bible  principles.  "There  is  one  body  and  one 
Spirit,  even  as  ye  are  called  in  one  hope  of  your  calling  ;  one  Lord,  one 
faith,  one  immersion,  one  God  and  Father  of  all,  who  is  above  all,  and 
through  all,  and  in  you  all." 

The  only  effectual  way  to  secure  Christian  union  is  to  be  of  one  mind 
with  God,  and  one  mind  with  Christ;  and  then  we  shall  be  of  necessity 
of  one  mind  with  each  other.  And  a  correct  and  complete  translation  of 
God's  word  must  tend  greatly  to  produce  this  union.  I  have  long  been 
convinced  that  the  immersion  of  infants  in  the  Greek  church,  and  the 
sprinkling  of  infants  in  the  Roman  and  Protestant  churches,  are  the 
grand  barriers  to  Christian  union.  Christian  union  must  be  founded 
in  the  truth.  It  must  be  a  holy  union,  a  union  of  which  Christ  is  the  cen- 
tre. It  must  be  the  unity  of  the  Spirit  in  the  bond  of  peace.  The  fruits 
and  effects  of  such  a  union,  founded  in,  and  promoted  by  the  truth, 
will  be  most  blessed. 

It  was  once  in  my  heart,  to  devote  my  life  to  the  missionary  work  in 
{he  East  Indies,  but  the  providence  of  God  diverted  me  from  that  field 
of  labor, 'and  perhaps,  I  have  been  enabled,  through  His  abundant  good- 
ness, to  do  even  more  for  the  heathen,  by  collecting  means  to  send  them 
Ihe  Holy  Scriptures,  than  I  could  have  done  by  spending  my  life  among 
them.     And  my  heart  is  still  most  deeply  interested  in  the  Bible  cause  ■ 


484 


APPENDIX  n. 


and  I  shall  cheerfully  continue  to  labor  in  its  promotion,  although  far 
advanced  in  years,  while  life  and  health  remain. 

I  intend  by  this  to  signify  my  acceptance  of  the  appointment  as  an 
agent  which  the  Board  of  the  American  Bible  Union  has  kindly  ten- 
dered me  ;  and  I  trust  the  God  of  all  truth  and  grace  will  abundantly 
bless  our  endeavors  to  obtain  the  requisite  means,  to  procure  faithful 
versions  of  his  word,  and  to  circulate  the  Holy  Scriptures  among  all 
nations. 

I  am,  my  dear  brother,  in  the  bonds  of  the  gospel, 
Affectionately  yours, 

Archibald  Maclay. 


Date  Due 

— . 

« 

©1 


Theological  Seminary-Speer  Library 


1012  01045  0999 


H« 


\L  WBttmm 


V   !  i|r>. 


^'lllilfe     I'M1. 

■Hi 


p^S!!  iltf'IK 


pwmii 

HH 

;l*jjjj] 

Sll'ifim  f 

1  ii'iiiiliili 

''ui^!' 

/  ;M  \\\W$% 

/^MEtf 

yWJw 

1     |W| 

jlljjr.      (* 
B''    111 

III  HIIIk  h  '       1       Kl 

liii^illnllliiliteuiiuiv 

Ilimlii^'lPil 

iL-iifTjlll 

JPjM 

m 

Si 

.lifflDK^-iiilJiilJlilll 

j    lllliliil!.1.,!) 

